HIV Priorities

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1940, you said your “priorities will be to continue to work with the most excluded groups; to tackle stigma at both the internal and societal levels as well as in the NHS; and planning for the future of HIV care to meet the needs of people living with HIV alongside othercomplex health conditions.” What immediate actions will you be taking to address these and what targets have you set?

The Mayor: I am a co-signatory to London’s Fast Track Cities Initiative (FTCI). The FTCI programme has adopted the new UNAIDS Global Strategy (2021–2026) which seeks to reduce the inequalities that drive the AIDS epidemic and get the world on track to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
For internal stigma, a community of practice is co-creating a framework for delivering self-stigma programmes for different population groups. Once the framework is ready it will be used to deliver these programmes, with a common evaluation framework to measure the impact.
A working group is currently being put together to design and then pilot an HIV friendly charter in the NHS. This charter will have specific criteria NHS organisations must meet in order to be recognised as HIV friendly.
Fast-Track Cities London is supporting HIV clinicians, services, charities and people living with HIV to consider how HIV care in London should evolve over the coming years in order to support patients to live well. The ‘Evolving HIV care in London’ framework is being developed to support Integrated Care Systems to understand future opportunities for sustaining and evolving HIV care in London. London’s FTCI will also be supporting ICSs to implement the recommendations that have been made.
All these workstreams have detailed project plans and deliverables.

Dial-a-Ride

Caroline Pidgeon: In response to question 2021/1423 you stated that around a third of Dial-a-Ride’s operational staff have entered an entirely voluntary Exit Programme for Drivers and other operational colleagues. If demand for Dial-a-Ride trips returns to pre-Covid levels how will Dial-a-Ride cope?  Even if allowing for the review of scheduling and efficiencies, can the same level of trips be provided with just two thirds of drivers that existed pre-Covid, or is TfL working on the assumption that demand for trips will never return to pre-Covid levels?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does anticipate overall demand for its Dial-a-Ride (DaR) services taking time to recover because, over the course of the pandemic, some customers have made significant lifestyle changes, such as moving to on-line shopping.
Nevertheless, DaR will remain a vital service for many Londoners, and TfL is confident that the changes made will allow us to meet passenger demand even if journey requests return to pre-pandemic levels. Moreover, it is important to note that DaR has always delivered some journeys through partners such as Community Transport Organisations and taxi companies.
Existing contractual relationships with these delivery partners will allow TfL to cover any increases in demand over the coming year that cannot be accommodated with its current in-house resources. There is sufficient flexibility in these contracts to respond to increases over and above the current projections for returning demand.

Dial-a-Ride new booking system

Caroline Pidgeon: Please state the name of the company TfL is purchasing the new assistant travelling booking and scheduling system from and what has been its cost. Please also state whether TfL designed a bespoke system or alternatively purchased a tailored package to accommodate all their scheduling requirements.

The Mayor: As soon as the supplier of the new Assisted Transport Services (ATS) booking and scheduling system has been confirmed, the name of the company and the scheduling system will be announced through the usual channels.

Targets in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy

Caroline Pidgeon: Due to COVID-19 and the stipulations in the latest central government bailout, do you plan to revise targets within the Mayor’s Transport Strategy? In particular is the mode shift target of 80 per cent of all trips being made by foot, cycling, or public transport by 2041, something you are still fully committed to?

The Mayor: I remain fully committed to all of the aims of my Transport Strategy, including the aim for 80 per cent of trips in London to be made by foot, cycle or public transport by 2041.

Tube Map Changes (2)

Emma Best: How much will it cost TfL to design and replace sufficient Tube Mapsin order toreflect the introduction of Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station as Zone 1 stations and the re-zoning of Kennington as Zone 1/2?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) updates the Tube map twice a year, in Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter and the Northern Line extension and re-zoning of Kennington will be part of the standard Autumn/Winter update. As a result, no extra cost will be incurred by TfL.

Community policing

Emma Best: How will theMayorbelooking to strengthen community policing over his nextterm?

The Mayor: As I have set out in my manifesto, I am committed to increasing visible neighbourhood policing – bobbies on the beat – in high crime areas and town centres.
The detailed plans for these town centre teams are still being finalised by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The new teams will work in collaboration with existing ward officers and violence suppression units.
Every Basic Command Unit (BCU) will receive at least one new team and the MPS will be prioritising those areas with the highest demands and associated risks.

Stop & Search

Emma Best: How does theMayorplan to use Stop & Search powers effectively over the next three years?

The Mayor: I support the use of targeted, intelligence lead stop and search. The MPS continues to improve its use through enhanced training which has included greater community involvement, lived experience sessions andunconsciousbiastraining, with a greater focus on the quality of the encounter.
The MPS has also strengthened its supervision of stops, with Body Worn Video footage reviewed by line managers and any learning reflected back to officers.
Community Monitoring Groups already provide scrutiny of the use of stop and search powers at a local level, including reviewing body worn video footage. As set out in my Action Plan for Transparency, Accountability and Trust in Policing, further work is underway to ensure that the MPS is more transparent and accountable to the communities it serves than ever before.

HIV Diagnosis and Treatment

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1940, you said “I will support the urgent work to find those living with HIV who are undiagnosed and get them onto treatment.” Please can you provide more details of how you plan to support his work?

The Mayor: Thank you for your second question. One example would be through joint working with the Fast Track Cities Initiative (FTCI) of which I am a co-signatory. We worked in partnership with FTCI during lockdown, using the opportunity of temporarily housing rough sleepers in hotels to offer testing to this group for HIV alongside a holistic health needs assessment. 36 diagnoses were identified who all are now engaged or reengaged in treatment.
A London Improvement Collaborative has been established by FTCI that brings together 12 improvement projects working with 22 local charities and 9 NHS Trusts into one community of practice. These include projects to increase HIV testing and ensure more people with HIV stay on treatment and aim to support many of the more complex, vulnerable or marginalised groups such as migrants, homeless people, people with substance misuse issues, as well as people from Black and minority ethnic populations and women.

Protecting police officers?

Emma Best: What plans does theMayorhave over the next three years to better protect police officers?

The Mayor: Police officers perform an invaluable role to keep us all safe and in turn I am committed to ensuring they are properly protected.
I have supported the provisions in the forthcoming Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to increase protection for police officers by doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting emergency workers from 12 months to 2 years.
I take my operational advice on the equipping of officers from the Commissioner and have supported her in the provisioning of Body Worn Video, Spit & Bite Guards and increased roll out of Taser. I will continue to listen to her concerns and recommendations for the protection of officers.

Fly-tipping and London (1)

Leonie Cooper: The most recent data shows that there was a total of 360,080 incidents of fly-tipping across London in 2019/20, a third of the total number of incidents across the UK. How are you supporting the work of London’s councils to reduce the number of incidents?

The Mayor: I have no powers to intervene on fly-tipping as the responsibility for dealing with this lies with the Environment Agency and local authorities.
I am providing advice and guidance on borough RRPs directly through GLA officers and through ReLondon (formerly the London Waste and Recycling Board). For example, the ReLondon Flats Recycling Package is aimed at the reduction of fly tipping by creating better facilities for estate residents to dispose of and recycle their waste.
All boroughs have now produced Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs), a requirement of my London Environment Strategy, many of which include actions on fly-tipping and littering. This includes Redbridge which recently won an award from Keep Britain Tidy for their efforts, which introduced joint operations between enforcement and street cleaning teams to ensure fly-tips are investigated and cleared simultaneously as well as a hard-hitting illegal dumping campaign which ran across fly-tipping hotspots.

London’s recycling (2)

Leonie Cooper: How much of London’s recycling is sent outside of the UK?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2637.

Air Quality at schools in Merton

Leonie Cooper: How many schools, primary or secondary, are still situated in areas of poor air quality, either high levels of NOx or Particulate Matter?

The Mayor: As a result of the ambitious policies I have implemented since 2016, there are currently no primary or secondary schools in Merton that are located in areas that exceed legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) based on our modelling.
However, I do not think the current legal limit for PM2.5 goes far enough for the protection of human health, which is why I have set out the aspiration for all of London to have concentrations of PM2.5 within the World Health Organization’s guideline limit of 10 µg/m3 by 2030. I have repeatedly called on Government to match London’s ambition and adopt the same limit in the Environment Bill.
In 2016, the average PM2.5 concentration in London was 13.3 µg/m3 and there were no areas in London within the WHO guideline limit. However, with the help of my ambitious policies, in 2019, areas in outer London were within the limit for the first time.

ReLondon in the coming term (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will you be working with ReLondon in the coming term to improve the messaging of the small changes Londoners can make to reduce consumption of single use plastics?

The Mayor: In June ReLondon published their 'Reducing single-use plastic consumption’ report, which identifies a series of actions to accelerate efforts by public, private and third sector actors to reduce consumption of single-use plastic in London. Work with Imperial College is underway to map existing London low plastic zones/neighbourhoods and identify how greater coordination could support and grow local efforts.
Part of my Green New Deal Fund is the £3m Future Neighbourhoods 2030 Programme which will support boroughs and local communities to drive action across five key sectoral themes including a zero waste, circular economy. ReLondon has supported boroughs in developing the zero waste elements of their applications and we have been delighted that so many have taken a circular economy focus, looking at innovative ways to reduce consumption and waste in their local areas.
ReLondon continues to deliver London Recycles campaigns, including targeted plastic campaign activity – such as plastic free July.

ReLondon in the coming term (1)

Leonie Cooper: How will you be adapting the direction and work of ReLondon in the coming term in order to improve household recycling rates across the city?

The Mayor: ReLondon is a partnership of the Mayor of London and London’s boroughs to improve waste and resource management in the capital and accelerate our transition to a low carbon circular city. The Chair of the Board is my appointed representative, Liz Goodwin, and the Board is made up of four London Borough Councilors, two independent members appointed by London Councils and one further independent member which I appoint (filled by my Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues).
The current ReLondon Business Plan was published last year and covers this coming Mayoral term. This puts the reduction of consumption-based emissions at its core, enabling an accelerated and just transition to a circular economy and placing a renewed emphasis on reducing waste and increasing recycling. Throughout this term ReLondon will therefore work with boroughs to implement their Reduction and Recycling Plans and support my recovery work, in particular the Green New Deal.

Fly-tipping and London (3)

Leonie Cooper: How will you be developing your policies and your environment strategy in order to directly impact on and reduce instances of fly-tipping in London?

The Mayor: Whilst I have no powers to intervene on fly-tipping as the responsibility for dealing with this lies with the Environment Agency and local authorities, my London Environment Strategy includes a number of proposals which aim to tackle fly-tipping.
These include a requirement for local Reuse and Recycling Centres to have necessary permits to accept a wide range of materials, including hazardous waste; and working, through ReLondon (formerly the London Waste and Recycling Board), to ensure that commercial waste providers are operating legally.
In preparing their RRPs boroughs are advised to have regard to the proposals in my London Environment Strategy.
Please see also see my responses to Mayor’s Question 2021/2623 and 2021/2624.

London’s recycling (1)

Leonie Cooper: How much of London’s recycling waste is sent outside of England?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2637.

GLA Land and Asset Portfolio

Unmesh Desai: The data on the GLA’s Land and Asset Portfolio dates back to November 2016. Please provide an update to this data to reflect the GLA’s current Land and Asset Portfolio.

The Mayor: The GLA’s Land and Asset Portfolio is no longer regularly updated and has been superseded by the Public Land database (https://maps.london.gov.uk/public-land/).We will remove the GLA’s Land and Asset Portfolio database from the GLA’s website to avoid confusion in the future.

Dedicated ward officer transport

Unmesh Desai: Please advise what proportion of dedicated ward officers’ time is spent patrolling in cars, and what proportion on foot in their wards? If there are guidelines on the amount of time ward officers should spend patrolling on foot or via police cars, please advise what these are.

The Mayor: Dedicated Ward Officers (DWOs) are expected to patrol their ward on foot. There may be some occasions where DWOs need to use cars for a specific task but there is only a very limited fleet of cars available to them. There is no data captured to measure the times spent in vehicles and on foot.

Small changes to reduce consumption of single-use plastics (2)

Leonie Cooper: Following on from your successful campaign to discourage the use of single-use plastic bottles, what changes will you be encouraging London supermarkets to make to reduce Londoner’s reliance on single-use plastics?

The Mayor: To help limit plastic waste and littering from disposable masks I wrote to all major supermarkets, emphasizing that face coverings should be reusable, non-medical and at a price which is accessible to all.
Through ReLondon a series of ‘action opportunities’ (which includes actions related to reducing Londoner’s reliance on single-use plastics from supermarkets) were outlined in their 'Reducing single-use plastic consumption’ report published last month. The report identifies opportunities to strengthen existing activities being undertaken by public, private and third sector actors and accelerate these efforts to reduce consumption of single-use plastic in London. My officers are working withReLondonto assess these‘action opportunities’, including those relating to supermarkets.

Police corruption investigations

Unmesh Desai: How many Met Police officers have been investigated under Section 26 (corrupt or improper exercise of police powers) of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015? Please provide a breakdown by year since the Act came into effect. Please also provide details of which borough or BCU the officers investigated were based within.

The Mayor: When the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) investigate allegations of corruption, numerous criminal offences may be considered throughout the course of the investigation, including Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, Misconduct in a Public office, Data Protection Act offences, computer misuse Offences, Fraud, Theft, Sexual offences or more appropriate criminal offences.
The Centurion system that is used to record allegations is a national system and does not allow the breakdown of investigations by specific offences in the detail that has been requested. The MPS is therefore unable to provide this information.
The MPS can, however, confirm that that no officer has been charged for this specific offence.

Right to Manage

Unmesh Desai: My constituents report freeholders using the Right to Manage process to delay, block and appeal, forcing extra legal costs and discouraging leaseholders from executing their legal right to manage their building. What support can your office offer to leaseholders caught up in a system that is supposed to be cheap and easy to use?

The Mayor: The GLA has no powers to intervene in leaseholders exercising or being denied the Right to Manage. The process is set out in legislation set by Government, specifically the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
I recognise that there are shortcomings in the current path to leaseholders exercising the right to manage their homes. In July 2020 the Law Commission recommended reform of the law underpinning the Right to Manage (RtM). We are now waiting for government to bring forward legislation in response. Recommendations seek to make the RtM process easier, quicker and cheaper, including by removing the requirement for leaseholders to pay their landlord’s costs when making a RtM claim.

GLA Freehold and Right to Manage

Unmesh Desai: How many buildings under GLA freehold have had leaseholders take up the ‘Right to Manage’?

The Mayor: Where the Greater London Authority is the freeholder, it is predominantly of the land upon which the building has been developed. The responsibility for managing the buildings usually rests with the developer or the current long leasehold owners and Rights to Manage proposals would normally be taken up with these entities. Rights to Manage do not usually require GLA consent so it does not hold any data regarding the number of buildings on land it holds the freehold of where the Right to Manage has been taken up by residents.

Police officer entry

Susan Hall: Since March 2020, please provide a breakdown of how many officers entered the Met workforce though the following entry means:
• Police Constable DegreeApprenticeship;
• Degree Holder Entry Programmes;and
• Other entry means (excluding transfers from other forces).

The Mayor: From March 2020 to May 2021 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has recruited 3,073 new police constables.
Recruitment using the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) and the Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP) only began in the MPS in January 2021. A breakdown of entry routes following these changes to recruitment are set out in the table below:
Jan-21
Feb-21
Mar-21
May-21
2021 Total
PCDA
143
148
88
114
493
DHEP
0
0
60
65
125
DHEP (Detective)
53
54
53
50
210

Supporting summer creativity in London children

Zack Polanski: Last summer the Mayor’s Fund for London helped to support A New Direction to give thousands of London children art packs, to benefit their health, wellbeing and creativity. Will you run or support a similar scheme this summer?

The Mayor: The Mayor’s Fund for London is an independent charity of which the Mayor of London is patron. Since 2017, the Mayor’s Fund has been running a programme, Kitchen Social, which supports local community partners to provide holiday activities and food to children at risk of food insecurity and social isolation during the school holidays. During lockdown, when a lot of provision was closed, Kitchen Social supported community partners to distribute food and supplies of educational resources, such as books and art packs donated by partners, to children in their homes.This summer, children will be supported onsite at the 100 or so Kitchen Social holiday hubs across London. These community hub partners run a mixture of physical activity, creative activity and food education.
Please contact [emailprotected] if you would like further information.

ESOL for women in London

Zack Polanski: What impact have your three ESOL Plus pilot programmes and 17 ESOL projects run through your Skills for Londoners Innovation Fund had on enabling more women to access ESOL courses?

The Mayor: Over 70% of participants across my English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus pilots were women, rising to 95% for ESOL Plus Childcare. The programmes were designed to enable more women to participate as childcare support was provided and there were no eligibility requirements around immigration status. These requirements, such as six months residence for people seeking asylum, can be a significant barrier to accessing Adult Education Budget (AEB) provision. We are now devising a toolkit to enable more providers to replicate this approach. While the power to widen eligibility based on immigration status for AEB provision remains with Government, we continue to raise this with the Department for Education.
Available interim data from my Skills for Londoners Innovation Fund ESOL projects show that women make up 79% of learners engaged so far. Providers indicated that offering informal or unregulated learning through these projects enabled them to better support first time learners.
Insights from these programmes are informing future priorities for the AEB. The pilot London Learner Survey which we are introducing will help measure impact for women across AEB provision more broadly.

Catalytic Converters (3)

Leonie Cooper: Has there been any progress made on getting manufacturers to make catalysers more secure in vehicles?

The Mayor: The MPS has been working with manufacturers to reduce the attractiveness of catalytic converter theft and assist in solving crimes when they do occur.
85% of thefts of catalytic converters are from Toyota, Lexus or Honda vehicles over 10 years old. Since that time, manufacturers have reduced the ‘platinum group’ metal content of the converters to make them less lucrative. They have also changed the location of the converters to make them more difficult to access.
In addition, the MPS has worked closely with Toyota and Lexus to use smart water on their catalytic converters. Both have now agreed to retrospectively do this at the request of the owner, and this could equate to around 220,000 cars across the UK. They have also offered to fit a Cat Lock – a metal plate secured over the top of the catalytic converters – to any owner who wishes to pay for one. The MPS has engaged with Honda, but they are not currently prepared to do the same.

Rapid Charging Points

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide an update on TfL’s plans to install further rapid electric charging points.
Please also set out what steps are being taken to deliver more rapid charging points across London through other suppliers.

The Mayor: There is a continued need to support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. Transport for London (TfL) is using lessons learned from EV delivery to date to inform the future approach.
An in-depth analysis of GLA Group land is being undertaken to assess the viability of individual sites to accommodate London’s EV charging infrastructure needs. The approach to supporting the expansion of charging points will be informed by the EV Infrastructure Strategy that TfL is currently developing and plans to publish later this year. This will provide the latest insights on projected EV charging demand, as well as the anticipated role that TfL and boroughs could play in delivery, alongside private sector provision. The EV Infrastructure Strategy will also consider how different delivery mechanisms, including flexible procurement models, can best facilitate an efficient implementation process across a variety of sites.

Waste and Recycling

Emma Best: You wish London to be a zero-waste city. Please can you outline your year-on-year recycling rate targets for the rest of your mayoral term toensure we are on track to hit this ambition?

The Mayor: In order for London to become a zero-waste city, which makes best use of all its waste where market opportunities exist to recover value from it, we need to reduce waste, increase recycling and move towards a more circular economy. My London Environment Strategy sets out how I plan to achieve this and sets ambitious targets beyond those set nationally by the Government. This includes my target of 65% recycling of municipal waste by 2030 which will require improvement in both household and business waste recycling and my London Environment Strategy sets out interventions required, including achieving 50 per cent of Local Authority Collected Waste (LACW) being recycled by 2025 and a minimum of 75 per cent recycling of business waste by 2030.
I am supporting boroughs directly and through Relondon to deliver the interventions they have identified in their Reduction and Recycling Plans and achieve their waste targets.

London Power

Emma Best: In my view,London Power consistently offers one of the least competitive rates for energy in London, no matter the region, property size or billing method. How do you propose to improve the competitiveness of London Power over the next 3 years?

The Mayor: London Power has a range of competitive energy offers. A search on the independent Citizens Advice energy comparison service showed the headline my london carbon neutral plan was in the lowest quartile of fixed price plans on 15 June 2021 , and the pre-payment tariff was the second cheapest in the market, offering customers a £111 saving per year against the price cap.
London Power prices are benchmarked to the market, and profit margins are contractually capped, to ensure they are always competitive and fairly priced. Unlike competitors’ ‘tease and squeeze’ tactics – where a low price for the first year is followed by a high-cost variable tariff – London Power’s rate rollover guarantee ensure customers automatically switch to the cheapest similar tariff when their contract expires.

Fertility Treatment Lottery

Emma Best: How will theMayorlook to workwithNHS London this term to end one of London’s largest healthinequalities;the fertility treatment lottery?

The Mayor: Whilst I have no direct responsibility for the commissioning or delivery of NHS services, Londoners should expect to be able to access the healthcare services they need, where and when they need them. I am committed to making London a healthier, fairer city, where nobody’s health suffers because of who they are, or where they live. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated existing health inequalities and increased waiting times for NHS treatment. A postcode lottery in access to IVF treatment is one symptom of the pressures the NHS faces.
I have forged ever closer working relationships with the NHS and other public bodies as we have responded together to the pandemic. As part of my commitment to champion and challenge the NHS, I raise a range of NHS issues in my regular meetings with London’s health leaders and I will continue to advocate for better access to healthcare for all Londoners.

Catalytic Converters (2)

Leonie Cooper: Can the Mayor update me on the number of reported stolen Catalytic converters in Merton in 2021?

The Mayor: Please see the information requested below, covering the period January to May 2021.
Owning Borough Name
Offences
Merton
73

London Repair Academy

Zack Polanski: Through the Skills Academies will you help found a London Repair Academy to be a London-wide resource, hub and educational establishment for training and information on repair skills, and training on how to run social enterprises?

The Mayor: The Sector Skills Academies will deliver high quality training, work experience and wider employment support (e.g. careers advice, mentoring, etc). These will cover sectors of the economy vital to London’s recovery including Green, Hospitality, Health and Social Care, Creative and Digital. The Academies will consist of a number of ‘hubs’, bringing together employers, training providers and other partners, building on the success of my Mayor’s Construction Academy approach. Each hub has the potential to develop a mixed training offer to include technical and wider employability and enterprise skills. The Academies will be established following an open bidding process.
We have identified waste reduction, recycling and circular economy as important areas to support through the Academy programme and would welcome applications from London organisations which are interested in delivering repair skills as part of a hub(s), along with Green Construction, Green Spaces and Resilience and Green roles in other sectors.

Rail Grinding Costs (1)

Emma Best: Please advise what the rail grinding costs over the approximately3,500 metres of track between Highbury & Islington and King’s Cross St. Pancras Victoria Line were over the past 5 years?

The Mayor: Since 2016, the total cost of rail grinding in this area has been approximately £1.15 million.

Waste Reduction & Recycling (1)

Leonie Cooper: Wandsworth is at the bottom of the tables for recycling - can the Mayor do anything to ensure that the Council improves its dismal record?

The Mayor: Wandsworth’s recycling rate for 2019/20 was 23.7%, 30th of London’s 33 local authorities. This was an increase of 0.5% from the previous year. Like all boroughs, Wandsworth has produced a Reduction and Recycling Plan (RRP) which sets out how it will contribute to my London Environment Strategy recycling targets. Wandsworth collects all of the six key materials for dry recycling, but currently, due to contractual restraints, is not able to provide a food waste service to all kerbside properties.
Wandsworth’s RRP was approved on the basis that they would trial a kerbside food waste service to inform the development of the specification for their new contract due to start in 2024.This trial is due to start this autumn. Their RRP also includes plans for recycling bins in parks, and improvements to recycling facilities for housing developments. Wandsworth’s recycling rate has increased by 1.6% from the RRP baseline year.
My officers, alongside ReLondon, continue to work closely with boroughs to support them in delivering their RRP commitments.

Sky Pool

Leonie Cooper: Given the recent coverage, can the Mayor update me on how his London Plan will stop some of the treatment suffered by shared ownership, social housing or renters when it comes to these new builds and their inability to use facilities in the buildings they live in? What more can he do to protect normal Londoners from these segregation practices?

The Mayor: I've always been clear that segregation has no place in London. My London Plan, through its Good Growth objectives, makes it clear that to engender strong and inclusive communities, separation or segregation should be avoided. The housing design policies are also clear about the need for inclusive design.
Developers should not be attempting to ratchet up demand through the creation of private enclaves with exclusive access to luxury facilities. Instead, they should be working with local authorities to create a thriving city for all Londoners – places where facilities and commercial premises form part of a vibrant urban realm that brings life to the neighbourhood, supports regeneration and welcomes everybody.
The London Plan housing design guidance will set out the importance of maximising integration through careful design. This will further send the message that design that divides communities – from segregated spaces to ‘poor doors’ and exorbitant service charges – has no place in our city.

The Climate Crisis and Mental Wellbeing (1)

Leonie Cooper: With growing evidence that there is a link between the extreme weather caused by climate change and mental wellbeing, what action are you taking to reduce the impact of extreme weather in London?

The Mayor: In March 2021, I published a climate risk map for London which identifies areas of the capital at greatest climate risk. My Green New Deal funded programmes, including the Future Neighbourhoods 2030 programme, will create and improve green spaces, green the public realm, deliver greater resilience to extreme weather and will target communities at greatest need.. On 1st June 2021, I published a London map of cool and shaded places of refuge for Londoners when temperatures are excessively high. Cool spaces are areas where Londoners can take respite on hot days, (in line with Government guidance on the easing of social distancing). Advice is also published for groups at risk during a heatwave with more targeted advice for care homes, schools and early years settings. The response to Mayor’s Question No: 2021/2635 highlights the action taken to support the mental wellbeing of Londoners impacted by extreme weather.

The Climate Crisis and Mental Wellbeing (2)

Leonie Cooper: How are you supporting the mental wellbeing of Londoners impacted by extreme weather in the short term?

The Mayor: I recognise the distress caused by extreme weather and the impacts on Londoner’s mental health. Through the London Recovery Programme’s Green New Deal and Mental Health and Wellbeing Missions, I will ensure that London’s communities have the tools and resources they need to protect their wellbeing and have the confidence to seek support if they need it. I am working in partnership with Thrive LDN to improve access to culturally competent mental health and wellbeing support and empower Londoners to take action to improve wellbeing as ‘Wellbeing Ambassadors’. My Green New Deal funded programmes will help build the environmental infrastructure needed to enable communities to cope with events such as flooding and heatwaves, including creating and improving access to green spaces. The response to Mayor’s Question No: 2021/2634 highlights the action I am taking to reduce the impact of extreme weather in London and on Londoner’s mental wellbeing.

London’s Plastic waste (1)

Leonie Cooper: How do you collect data on where London’s plastic recycling waste ends up?

The Mayor: The responsibility for regulating waste disposal lies with the Environment Agency. Waste authorities report tonnages of waste collected and processed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Unfortunately this does not include destination data.
In developing my London Plan, I commissioned analysis which showed that in 2015 London managed around 7.5 million tonnes of its own waste and exported around 11.4 million tonnes per year. The majority of exported waste (around 10 million tonnes) remained in England. London exported the remaining estimated 1.3 million tonnes of waste internationally, mostly to Europe and China, for recycling or for incineration as it was illegal to export waste for landfill. This situation will be different now as exports of waste to China have decreased following new rules instigated by China in 2018.,
At that time London also imported and managed around 3.6 million tonnes of waste. This gave a waste net self-sufficiency figure of approximately 60 per cent – 14 per cent higher than when the previous London Plan was published.

Training for new recruits to the Metropolitan Police Service

Unmesh Desai: Please advise what proportion of new recruits’ overall training has been delivered virtually since March 2020? If possible, please provide the breakdown in the number of hours spent in virtual training as opposed to face to face or in the field training.

The Mayor: Since March 2020, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has trained around 2,375 police constables and around 570 direct entry detectives.
Several changes were made to recruit training in response to the COVID. This was necessary to ensure the MPS could continue to recruit during the pandemic, that these new recruits were protected and to ensure operational resilience of frontline policing.
These changes centred on moving appropriate training content to virtual delivery led by an instructor online. An initial 8-week course ran during March-May 2020, with 58% of the delivery in-person and 42% remote instructor led.
By June 2020 this had been built up to 13 weeks, with 68% of the delivery in-person and 32% remote instructor led. The 17-week initial training for direct entry detectives was run at 65% delivery in-person and 35% remote instructor led.
In January 2021, the MPS launched its new externally accredited recruit training in partnership with four London universities. Under current arrangements 51% of the 17-week course is delivered in-person and 49% is remote learning. The MPS intends to begin increasing the proportion of in-person delivery from July.

Elders’ Champion for London

Caroline Russell: Will you consider appointing an Elders’ Champion to monitor and co-ordinate the effects of all your policies on older people?

The Mayor: I want London to be an age-friendly city whatever people’s circumstances and will continue to draw on older Londoners’ priorities and the expertise of organisations representing older Londoners to help make that happen.
My deputy mayor Debbie Weekes-Bernard is the older people’s champion within my office. She is also the deputy mayor with responsibility for delivering my commitment to making London a more age-friendly city.
In addition, Councillor Ruth Dombey, leader of the London Borough of Sutton, is the older people’s champion on the London Recovery Board. Debbie and Ruth co-chair the social renewal work strand of the recovery programme.
I have every confidence that, between them, they will coordinate and monitor my policies and the recovery programme to ensure they have a positive impact on older people and contribute towards making our city more age-friendly.

Building Safety Fund (1)

Anne Clarke: How many grants have been made from this fund to London buildings to date? Please provide a breakdown since the funds began, showing the size of grant and date of grant award.

The Mayor: As of 15 June 2021, my Building Safety team has made 43 grant payments from the Building Safety Fund for a total amount of £25,366,113.
Please see table below for a breakdown of grant paid.
Grant total (£)
Date of authorisation
167,267
Oct 15, 2020
60,301
Feb 24, 2021
219,898
Jan 11, 2021
1,801,940
Feb 25, 2021
571,988
Jan 7, 2021
515,104
Dec 9, 2020
479,823
Mar 10, 2021
455,989
Jan 27, 2021
398,934
Mar 17, 2021
323,825
Feb 24, 2021
131,519
Feb 4, 2021
80,956
May 7, 2021
470,328
Apr 21, 2021
88,023
Mar 30, 2021
728,716
Mar 17, 2021
1,388,588
May 14, 2021
347,273
Apr 6, 2021
207,214
Apr 8, 2021
1,764,874
Jan 13, 2021
463,175
Jan 22, 2021
292,957
Apr 21, 2021
212,888
May 5, 2021
465,657
Feb 25, 2021
227,348
Feb 25, 2021
916,157
Apr 7, 2021
628,330
Feb 12, 2021
1,105,267
Apr 8, 2021
274,178
Feb 25, 2021
460,607
Mar 30, 2021
372,809
Mar 11, 2021
228,782
Jun 8, 2021
230,728
Mar 8, 2021
783,091
Jun 11, 2021
1,798,652
May 19, 2021
235,571
Apr 16, 2021
1,003,815
Jun 4, 2021
944,089
Apr 14, 2021
720,162
Apr 14, 2021
157,071
May 19, 2021
2,220,132
Apr 16, 2021
91,918
Jun 15, 2021
1,083,674
Apr 19, 2021
246,495
May 24, 2021

Building Safety Fund (2)

Anne Clarke: How is the GLA ensuring that leaseholders are given clear and honest information about the application process so that they understand whether funding will be available to their building, when this will be released and how the GLA will support them through the process?

The Mayor: Please see my resposne to Mayor’s Question 2021/2523.

Waking Watch Relief Fund (1)

Anne Clarke: How many grants have been made from this fund to London buildings to date? Please provide a breakdown since the funds began, showing the size of grant and date of grant award.

The Mayor: As at 16 June 2021, 26 Waking Watch Relief Fund applications have been referred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for a funding decision of which 20 have been approved. My Building Safety team is now working with successful applicants to enter a funding agreement, so no funding has yet been drawn down on the Waking Watch Relief Fund.

Waking Watch Relief Fund (2)

Anne Clarke: How is the GLA ensuring that leaseholders are given clear and honest information about the application process so that they understand whether funding will be available to their building, when this will be released and how the GLA will support them through the process?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2523.

Divestment of LPFA

Leonie Cooper: Your manifesto committed to full divestment of LPFA pension schemes from fossil fuels. How much has been divested so far and when do you expect this to be achieved by?

The Mayor: I have committed to take all possible steps to divest the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA) of its investments in fossil fuel industries. However, the LPFA is run by an independent board of trustees who must act in the fiduciary interests of members of the scheme. At the start of my previous administration, LPFA held direct investments in extractive fossil fuels of £43.6m or 1% of its total assets under management (AUM). Over the course of my last administration the LPFA reduced their investments in extractive fossil fuels by over 90% of AUM.
I will continue to work with the LPFA throughout my second term to encourage them to develop a clear plan, with an accompanying timeline, for how they can divest the remaining extractive fossil-fuel investments.

London’s Plastic waste (2)

Leonie Cooper: How much of London’s plastic recycling is still sent outside of London?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2637.

Social and Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund (1)

Anne Clarke: How many grants have been made from these funds to London buildings to date? Please provide a breakdown since the funds began, showing the size of grant; social or private residential; and month of grant award.

The Mayor: As of 17 June 2021, 78 payments from the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund have been authorised. In total, £108,709,527 has been paid out to date. It should be noted that grant is paid in two tranches for this programme – 80 per cent and 20 per cent.
As of 17 June 2021, my Building Safety team has authorised 73 payments from the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund. In total, £18,324,247 has been paid out to date. It should be noted that most buildings under this programme follow a monthly payment structure.
Please see table below for a breakdown of grant paid.

Social and Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund (2)

Anne Clarke: How is the GLA ensuring that leaseholders are given clear and honest information about the application process so that they understand whether funding will be available to their building, when this will be released and how the GLA will support them through the process?

The Mayor: The GLA administers the Social and Private Sector ACM Remediation Funds, the Building Safety Fund and the Waking Watch Relief Funds on behalf of the Ministry for Homes, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). These are central government programmes and it is therefore central government which is responsible for publishing guidance on fund processes.
Although the GLA does not engage with leaseholders directly, the Building Safety team regularly reminds building owners of their duty to ensure leaseholders and residents are kept up to date about the progress of their application.

Uninsured drivers 5

Nicholas Rogers: Howisthe Met utilising speed enforcement cameras, traffic light cameras and ANPR cameras to tackle to the issue of uninsured drivers?

The Mayor: The MPS has an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) database for the top 10 offenders identified through Operation Tutelage. All Traffic Cars are also fitted with an ANPR system which flags vehicles submitted to various ANPR “Hot Lists”.
However, the primary purpose of the digital camera network in London is to detect speeding and red-light offences, and devices are covered by Home Office Type Approval (HOTA). HOTA does not currently extend to detecting no insurance offences and until the driver is confirmed it is not possible to establish their insurance status. There is therefore no automated means to routinely conduct insurance checks on each driver detected by our safety camera network. However, while processing offences if any document offence comes to light, including no insurance, relevant prosecution action is taken.

Uninsured drivers 4

Nicholas Rogers: What is the Met doing to work with partner agencies to tackle the issue of uninsured drivers?

The Mayor: Further to the answers provided in question 2021/2406, the MPS works collaboratively with other Police Services as part of Operation Tutelage to ensure enforcement is not limited by policing or geographical boundaries.
Operation CUBO is run with participation and assistance from the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) who assist with providing focused tasking around the areas where most non-insured cars are registered.

Uninsured drivers 3

Nicholas Rogers: What is your office and the Met doing to tackle to the problem of uninsured drivers?

The Mayor: The Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) are tackling uninsured drivers as part of their key enforcement strategy as they work with TfL to reduce road deaths across London.
Along with the rest of the MPS, the RTPC undertake regular Operation CUBO days which specifically target uninsured drivers. Between January-May 2021 data shows Operation CUBO were successful in recording 1747 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs), 149 Arrests and 473 Vehicle Seized (RPTC data only).
The MPS also participate in Operation Tutelage, which is a national policing initiative working to reduce the levels of uninsured driving on our roads. Advisory letters are sent to the registered keepers of vehicles seen on the road in circumstances where the current insurance status of the vehicle is unclear. The letter encourages the registered keeper to identify if there is a problem with the insurance for the vehicle, and to put things right. As this is a national scheme, uninsured vehicles may be identified in other parts of the country, not just this force area.

Uninsured drivers 2

Nicholas Rogers: For each financial year 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/2019, 2019/20 and 2020/21, how many road traffic collisions were there, and how many of these involved:
• An uninsured driver
• A vehicle fleeing thescene

The Mayor: 2404_&_2405_Uninsured drivers 1_&_2 (1).xlsx

Uninsured drivers 1

Nicholas Rogers: For each financial year 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/2019, 2019/20 and 2020/21, how many uninsured drivers were caught in London? Of these, please can you provide a breakdown of the sanctions?

The Mayor: Please find attached therequested information,supplied by the MPS in response to both MQ 2021/2404 and 2021/2405.

The Mayor: 2404_&_2405_Uninsured drivers 1_&_2 (1).xlsx

LGBT domestic abuse offences

Nicholas Rogers: For each financial year 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/2019, 2019/20 and 2020/21, how many LGBT domestic abuse offences were recorded by the Met?

The Mayor: Please see the requested information below:
Financial Year
Total
2015/16
652
2016/17
607
2017/18
679
2018/19
695
2019/20
737
2020/21
793
Grand Total
4,163
This information has been extracted from the Crime Recording Information System using the flag “DI - Domestic Abuse LGBT relationship”.

NPAS deployments

Nicholas Rogers: How many times over the last year has NPAS been deployed toSouth WestLondon? Times, dates and boroughs please.

The Mayor: The attachedinformation is the National Police Air Service (NPAS) data on deployment from the South-West Command Unit, which incorporates Kingston, Merton, Wandsworth and Richmond boroughs.

The Mayor: 2402_NPAS deployments_SPREADSHEET.xlsx

Cutting waste in the recovery

Zack Polanski: Given the impacts of the pandemic on waste and recycling rates, what actions are you taking in your Recovery missions to increase recycling and cut waste?

The Mayor: I am focussed on cutting waste and increasing recycling by boosting the circular economy as part of my recovery missions. My Green New Deal is providing £1.8 million of funding to the Better Futures and ReLondon Business Transformation Programmes to support the growth of circular and sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Areas of focus cover key sectors, including food, the built environment, fashion and electronics, as well as disposable items prevalent in London, such as coffee cups, nappies and wipes.
Another part of my Green New Deal Fund is the £3m Future Neighbourhoods 2030 Programme which will support boroughs and local communities todrive action across five key sectoral themes including a zero waste, circular economy.
I continue to support boroughs to deliver their Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs) to cut waste and increase recycling.

Boroughs that have not declared a climate emergency

Zack Polanski: Will you write ahead of COP26 to boroughs in London that have not followed the lead of other boroughs, and the London Assembly, in declaring a climate emergency to encourage them to do this?

The Mayor: Yes. 28 London boroughs have declared a climate emergency. I will be writing to all London boroughs asking them to sign up to Race to Zero, to show the commitment of London to tackling climate change ahead of COP26 plans. As part of this I will encourage the few remaining boroughs who haven’t done so to declare a climate emergency.

Euro 2020 Impact

Emma Best: How will you look to use EURO 2020 to empower fantastic London-based football and sports charities to use this platform to expandtheir work?

The Mayor: Alongside the UEFA EURO 2020 tournament, I have commissioned a community organisation called Big Ideas to deliver their schools engagement project, No Barriers. Big Ideas have recruited 121 schools across London to deliver workshops focused on young people overcoming barriers, using inspiring professional footballers as No Barriers Champions. This project empowers young Londoners to connect with the tournament in a positive way. Please see Mayor’s Question 2021/1928 for more information on the EURO2020 community engagement programme.
To recognise the fantastic work of the community sports sector over the last year, my officers have made tickets available to Fan Zone screenings of EURO 2020 matches in Trafalgar Square. More than sixty community sport organisations will each receive a set of tickets for seated and socially distanced viewing for them and the people they serve.
I am also currently working with the Women’s FA to support their community engagement in London alongside next year’s UEFA Women’s EUROs tournament and expand the reach of football in London’s communities.

MedCity Funding Commitments

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1929 you advisedMedCitywould receive £200,000 Mayoral funding for the 2021-2022 financial year. I had asked what funding you would be committing for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. Please can you advise on this point also?

The Mayor: I have not committed any funding for future years beyond £200,000 for the 2021-22 financial year, which remains subject to approval by Mayoral Decision.

School Superzones Targets

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1938 you advised you would be setting targets in relation to schoolsuperzoneswith borough partners. When do you envision targets will be set?

The Mayor: As outlined in Mayor’s Question 2021/1938, expanding School Superzones to more areas across London is an important way in which to improve children’s health. It is closely linked to the Healthy Food Healthy Weight recovery mission as well as the Green New Deal and a number of other recovery missions. Following the election, work with partners is now underway to re-engage with boroughs and to review learning from the first phase of the School Superzones programme. This will help ensure a good understanding of both the key success factors and the barriers to establishing them that were experienced in some areas. Over the coming months my team will work with boroughs to develop a range of options for supporting boroughs, schools and communities to implement the School Superzones approach more widely, and will develop targets at this point.

Root Causes of Childhood Obesity

Emma Best: The root cause of childhood obesity can often be a trauma or adverse childhood experience where poor diet/lack of exercise is simply one symptom of a much wider problem. How will you look to address the root causes of childhood obesity this mayoral term and not just the symptom?

The Mayor: Obesity is a complex issue and the 2007 Foresight report and system map set out the many drivers including economic, biological, societal influences and individual psychology. The negative impacts that adverse experiences can have on a child’s development are well-documented, but possible associations between adverse childhood experiences and overweight or obesity in childhood are less well-investigated with some disagreement in study outcomes1.
MyLondonchild obesity taskforcehasoutlined the importance of a whole system approach and calls on partners across the city to support children to reach a healthy weight. Their call to action can be found at Every Child A Healthy Weight. Through the London Recovery programme and my Health Inequalities Strategy, I will continue to work with partners to support the long-term health and wellbeing of all Londoners, starting with those living in the most challenging circumstances.
1 Adverse Childhood Experiences in London: Investigating ways that Adverse Childhood Experiences and related concepts of vulnerability can help us to understand and improve Londoners’ health. Miriam Bullock, 2019

Wellbeing Ambassadors Targets

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1943 you did not provide a number for how many wellbeing ambassadors there will be in London at the end of this mayoral term. Please can you advise how many of the quarter of a million ambassadors will be in place at this point?

The Mayor: The wellbeing ambassador concept is currently in early development with Londoners and wider partners and milestones are being developed. However, as referenced in Mayor’s Question 2021/1943, we aim to be well on course to reaching the 250,000 target by the end of the current Mayoral term.
It is crucial that the wellbeing ambassador scheme is developed in a way and at a pace that ensures it is effective in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of London’s diverse communities. Programme planning and resource development for the scheme will progress over the summer months in partnership with Thrive LDN. We look forward to being able to provide further details in the Autumn.

Age-Friendly London Targets

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1942 requesting specific targets on making London age-friendly, no specific targets were laid out. Please can you list specific targets and means by which progress will be measured against these?

The Mayor: As I said in response to your original question, actions necessary to deliveron my commitment to make London an age-friendly citywill be taken forward throughstrategies,policiesand programmes across the GLA group. I amalso pushing for them to be embedded across the recovery programme.
To support this, the London Recovery Board recently agreed to set up a sub-group to drive activity to address structural inequality. The group will build on the work already underway in response to the pandemic, as a result of the Board’s existing commitment to address inequality. The details of that group’s scope and remit will be finalised in due course.
My deputy mayor, Debbie Weekes-Bernard, will be meeting with the London Age-friendly Forum and other older people’s organisations in the coming weeks, to discuss how our work can address the needs of older Londoners.

Health Inequalities Review Timeline

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1944 requesting a timeline for your review of “all policies and procedures” to ensure we are doing all possible totacklehealthinequalitiesyou stated this work has begun. This is unfortunately not a timeline. Please can you be more specific about milestones, work flows and completion dates of reviews for key documents?

The Mayor: Thank you again for your interest in this area. I am keen to work with the London Assembly on matters of interest to Londoners such as this.
The Health Inequalities Strategy will be discussed at the next London Health Board (29th June) and we plan to have an updated implementation plan by November 2021. I and my Health Team will keep you and colleagues in the London Assembly updated on progress.

Fast Track housing

Emma Best: Further to questions 2021/1923 and 2021/1924, could you please therefore confirm that none of the schemes that have qualified for theFast TrackRoute have received public funding for affordable homes?

The Mayor: Developments are expected to maximise the delivery of affordable housing through grant and public subsidy where available, including Fast Track Route schemes. This includes schemes by approved providers and strategic partners, and developer-led proposals under the 2016-23 Affordable Homes Programme (AHP). Grant programmes sit outside of the planning process, and so developments must commit unconditionally to the threshold level of affordable housing in the planning consent in order to follow the Fast Track Route and increase the level of affordable housing wherever possible. If a planning consent would result in a lower level of affordable housing if grant is not available, it would not qualify for the Fast Track Route.

Green infrastructure investment after the coronavirus pandemic

Zack Polanski: The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of London’s green spaces and parks. How will you bring these important pieces of social and community infrastructure into plans for a green recovery, and what are you doing to better maintain and invest in these areas so they can be accessible to all Londoners?

The Mayor: Investing in improving, expanding and increasing access to London’s green spaces, and developing the skills needed to sustain them, is core to my Green New Deal. My London Green Spaces Commission made recommendations on supporting the future management and funding of park services. Establishing a Centre of Excellence, which I have supported through building capacity in Parks for London, enabling the charity to increase collaboration, improve management, address accessibility challenges and champion the multiple benefits of green space. And developing a future green space skills programme, which is being implemented through plans for my new Green Skills Academy.
Significant investment is also needed. My new funding programmes will build on the £14 million I have already invested since 2016 and I have released mapping that will allow us to target the areas of greatest need. Through my green finance work, I will support further research to develop and test mechanisms for leveraging investment for green spaces.

Council homes take-up

Sem Moema: How many households in London have been housed in council homes funded by City Hall during this administration?

The Mayor: The GLA does not hold this information.

Overcrowding

Sem Moema: Your current Housing Strategy commits to driving down overcrowding, which has been suggested as a factor in not being able to socially distance and higher covid levels among low-to middle-income Londoners. What work have your officers undertaken to deliver on this commitment?

The Mayor: My 2021 London Plan aims to ensure that new social housing helps tackle overcrowding – requiring for the first time that boroughs outline the size mix of social housing needed locally, including family-sized homes.
The funding deal I negotiated for my new Affordable Homes Programme will prioritise social rented homes, which are frequently the only affordable option for overcrowded families. I have also called on the Government to urgently review its policies to provide additional funding for social housing.
The welfare system contributes to making housing unaffordable for Londoners with low incomes. I have lobbied Government to scrap the Benefit Cap, which would improve options for households who have to resort to cramming into homes smaller than they need.
Finally, I called on the Government to scrap planning loopholes that led to substandard micro-flats being created through permitted development, and I welcome their move to apply space standards to any new homes from this source.

Seized money

Shaun Bailey: On 29th May, Sky news reported that the Met had seized £5.4millionof ill-gottengains. The Telegraph reported that they had also seized £47millionin 2020/21. Can this money be used to fund anti-crime initiatives? If so, what initiatives?

The Mayor: The Home Office Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) provides for a proportion of criminal assets recovered by the Met to be paid back to the Met. Incentive payments should be used to drive up performance on asset recovery and, where appropriate, to fund local crime fighting priorities for the benefit of the community. The Met uses this money to support asset recovery policing and tackle MOPAC policing priorities including violence and gangs. One such initiative allows for individual Met units, for example a gangs team, to bid for funding to support specific policing operations meeting the aforementioned criteria.

FMS

Shaun Bailey: Please provide an update on both the 2020 and 2021 Met ForceManagementStatements, if there is a publication date for either?

The Mayor: There was no Force Management Statement (FMS) in 2020 as HMICFRS suspended the requirement at the outset of the pandemic.
A FMS is being produced in 2021 and will be published on the Met website in the autumn.
You can find previous FMSs here: https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/met-business-plan/

Catalytic Converters (1)

Leonie Cooper: Can the Mayor update me on the number of reported stolen Catalytic converters in Wandsworth in 2021?

The Mayor: Please see the information requested below, covering the period January to May 2021.
Owning Borough Name
Offences
Wandsworth
150

Knife Crime Prevention Orders

Shaun Bailey: What is the latest news on Knife Crime Prevention Orders?

The Mayor: On 17th June this year the government confirmed that the launch of Knife Crime Prevention Orders, which have been delayed by Covid since April 2020, will take place from July 5th. The pilot of these new powers will take place across 14 months in London, after which there will be an evaluation.

Good Work Fund

Shaun Bailey: From what budget is the £32m for the Good Work Fund from?

The Mayor: Through the Good Work Fund, we are making £32m available to deliver education and training to Londoners to develop the skills they need to move into good jobs. The Fund will enable the delivery of provision across two academic years – 2021-22 and 2022‑23.
For each academic year, approximately £10m is funded through our Adult Education Budget allocation and approximately £6m is funded through the National Skills Fund allocation.

Good Work Fund Targets

Shaun Bailey: What targets have you set for the Good Work Fund to achieve?

The Mayor: Each provider that has received an award through the Good Work Fund will be performance managed based on project targets they set out in their applications against criteria defined by the GLA in the prospectus and supporting documentation. These include learner enrolments and achievements across a broad range of curriculum areas including ESOL, English, Maths and Digital Skills. We expect successful providers to support more than 20,000 Londoners to gain the skills they need to move into good jobs.

Shared Ownership

Sem Moema: How will you ensure there is maximum tenure integration on housing developments that feature different social and private tenures?

The Mayor: My London Plan is clear that housing development should be designed to maximise tenure integration and should help to create a more socially inclusive London.
Design Policy D6 requires that the design and layout of dwellings should meet the needs of Londoners without differentiating between tenures. My draft Good Quality Homes for all Londoners London Plan Guidance proposed ways to design inclusively on site, including through ensuring that the external appearance and entrances of homes are indistinguishable from each other and well integrated and that all residents of homes within a residential tower can access communal amenities. Additionally, London Plan Policy S4 requires that play space in new residential developments must not be segregated by tenure.
The draft guidance is currently being reviewed in light of feedback from stakeholders and the final guidance will set out clear expectations in relation to how housing development can be well integrated.

Rogue Landlords Register (2)

Sem Moema: What is the average length of time a landlord spends on the Rogue Landlord Register?

The Mayor: There are two tiers of access to enforcement records on my Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker. The public tier is a publicly-viewable list of landlords who have been fined or prosecuted for a housing-related offence. The private tier is only accessible by enforcement authorities.
Records are viewable for up to 10 years on the private tier. The retention period for records on the public tier varies depending on the type of enforcement action. Criminal convictions are publicly viewable until the date the conviction becomes spent, which is usually after 12 months. The same retention period applies to civil penalties. London Fire Brigade enforcement actions and redress scheme expulsions will be displayed in public view in line with the timescales set out in these organisations’ own policies. For the London Fire Brigade this is three years, while the redress schemes decide the length of expulsion on a case by case basis.

Rogue Landlords Register (1)

Sem Moema: Please breakdown the number of landlords recorded on the Rogue Landlords Register per year since its inception.

The Mayor: 2,533 records of prosecutions and penalties against landlords and agents have been uploaded to my Rogue Landlords and Agent Checker since its inception in December 2017. These are broken down as follows:
Year
Records uploaded to Checker
2017
536
2018
952
2019
617
2020
325
2021 (to 17/6/2021)
103
Total
2,533

Rogue Landlords Register (4)

Sem Moema: Please give a breakdown of the number of landlords on the Rogue Landlords Register for each borough in London. Please provide this data for every year since the Register was introduced.

The Mayor: 2,533 records of prosecutions and penalties against landlords and agents have been uploaded to the Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker since its inception in December 2017. Of these, 2,413 records have been uploaded by boroughs, as set out below:
Borough
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Total
Barking & Dagenham
21
25
4
3
53
Barnet
13
6
5
4
28
Bexley
2
5
7
Brent
74
33
12
2
2
123
Bromley
1
1
Camden
45
134
142
64
54
439
Croydon
6
12
11
7
36
Ealing
28
28
Enfield
7
7
Greenwich
22
21
4
32
2
81
Hackney
8
2
10
Hammersmith
5
10
3
2
20
Haringey
21
2
23
Harrow
1
4
5
Havering
6
46
10
62
Hillingdon
3
3
Hounslow
35
11
46
Islington
33
8
1
42
Kensington & Chelsea
6
6
Lambeth
3
9
12
Lewisham
2
16
6
24
Merton
30
4
34
Newham
174
283
145
66
6
674
Redbridge
6
24
20
50
Richmond
8
2
10
20
Southwark
36
50
114
200
Sutton
4
4
Tower Hamlets
81
7
3
2
93
Waltham Forest
38
74
14
34
6
166
Wandsworth
17
2
4
2
25
Westminster
18
30
12
29
2
91

Rogue Landlords Register (3)

Sem Moema: Please break down the number of landlords on the Rogue Landlords Register for each offence category.

The Mayor: A breakdown of records that have been uploaded to the Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker since its inception by category is as follows:

Deaths amongst rough sleepers

Sem Moema: Please provide a breakdown on the number of homelessness deaths in the capital per year since 2010.

The Mayor: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) identifies deaths of homeless people in London from the death registration records (called Identified Deaths), and uses this to estimate the most likely number of additional deaths not identified in the registrations as homeless people, called Total Estimated Deaths. These statistics include people sleeping rough, in emergency accommodation and in services such as homeless shelters and hostels around the time of their death.
Data for 2010-12 are not available. Data for 2020 will be released in October 2021.
Identified Deaths
2013 109
2014 87
2015 118
2016 110
2017 112
2018 110
2019  104
Total Estimated Deaths
2013 134
2014 103
2015 141
2016 132
2017 136
2018 148
2019  144

Council homes

Andrew Boff: How many council homes have been started from the 10,000 council homes programme? Please provide a breakdown by borough and bedroom size.

The Mayor: The table below shows the number of affordable homes from projects that started on site that count towards the GLA's 10,000 council homes target. To note, the submission of bedroom data is not mandatory and therefore the details below only include projects where the bedroom breakdown is available.
Location
Affordable Starts delivered by councils
Oct-18 to Mar-21
Bedroom breakdown
(where available)
Studio/1 Bed
2 Bed
3 Bed
4 Bed
5 Bed +
Barking and Dagenham
820
256
322
237
5
0
Barnet
197
166
31
0
0
0
Bexley
12
2
6
4
0
0
Brent
710
67
95
0
0
0
Camden
197
8
6
27
16
0
City of London
12
11
1
0
0
0
Croydon
462
45
24
12
0
0
Ealing
205
43
125
22
15
0
Enfield
680
36
64
54
2
0
Greenwich
82
23
7
4
0
0
Hackney
356
81
121
71
3
0
Hammersmith and Fulham
2
1
1
0
0
0
Haringey
377
56
107
38
3
0
Harrow
211
18
58
20
0
0
Havering
149
1
15
7
0
0
Hillingdon
50
21
23
6
0
0
Hounslow
517
93
243
94
6
0
Islington
207
75
67
30
0
2
Kensington and Chelsea
167
26
32
2
0
0
Lambeth
16
0
0
0
0
0
Lewisham
193
59
75
36
7
0
Newham
490
155
105
130
7
0
Redbridge
421
130
173
71
29
0
Richmond upon Thames
1
0
1
0
0
0
Southwark
622
34
63
66
0
109
Tower Hamlets
256
80
78
92
6
0
Waltham Forest
290
110
98
75
7
0
Wandsworth
134
28
51
9
8
0
Westminster
396
51
11
1
0
0
Total:
8,232
1,676
2,003
1,108
114
111

Housing size mix

Andrew Boff: Could you please provide a complete figure for the number of bedrooms for all GLA-funded affordable starts and completions in financial year 2020/21?

The Mayor: Please see below two tables. Table 1 shows the number of homes from projects that started on site between April 2020 and March 2021 and table 2 shows the number of homes from projects that completed between April 2020 and March 2021. To note, the submission of bedroom data is not mandatory and therefore has only been provided where it is available.
Table 1: 2020-21 Affordable Starts
Location
2020-2021 Affordable Starts
Starts Bedroom breakdown
(where available)
Studio/1 bed
2 bed
3 bed
4 bed
5+ beds
Barking and Dagenham
1,069
156
338
444
0
0
Barnet
661
264
185
48
13
0
Bexley
374
62
110
192
6
0
Brent
491
59
106
53
7
0
Bromley
285
0
0
1
0
0
Camden
216
78
36
33
4
0
City of London
6
1
1
0
0
0
Croydon
962
172
254
125
1
0
Ealing
898
268
287
95
17
0
Enfield
512
41
53
71
2
0
Greenwich
423
66
57
60
5
0
Hackney
140
3
5
7
0
0
Hammersmith and Fulham
122
0
11
0
25
0
Haringey
226
10
17
12
0
0
Harrow
120
4
40
11
3
0
Havering
182
1
24
30
0
0
Hillingdon
487
148
176
144
0
1
Hounslow
521
97
242
84
1
0
Islington
79
34
27
11
0
0
Kensington and Chelsea
76
12
15
1
0
0
Kingston upon Thames
110
50
31
23
0
0
Lambeth
275
117
86
41
10
3
Lewisham
468
101
134
50
8
0
Merton
20
12
2
3
0
0
Newham
1,689
325
803
205
7
0
Redbridge
350
81
114
54
29
0
Richmond upon Thames
2
0
0
0
0
0
Southwark
865
148
236
121
9
109
Sutton
91
4
4
2
0
0
Tower Hamlets
816
212
229
115
36
0
Waltham Forest
228
34
86
15
0
0
Wandsworth
301
37
127
19
1
0
Westminster
253
50
17
0
0
0
Total
13,318
2,647
3,853
2,070
184
113
Table 2: 2020-21 Affordable Completions
Location
2020-2021 Affordable Completions
Completions Bedroom breakdown
(where available)
Studio/1 bed
2 bed
3 bed
4 bed
5+ beds
Barking and Dagenham
498
85
238
166
0
0
Barnet
283
112
132
30
2
0
Bexley
151
21
54
64
1
0
Brent
797
246
378
129
19
0
Bromley
11
1
6
2
0
0
Camden
124
30
28
37
16
0
City of London
4
0
0
0
0
0
Croydon
342
109
81
129
6
0
Ealing
663
185
264
127
13
0
Enfield
273
62
124
71
2
0
Greenwich
247
66
81
47
9
0
Hackney
277
71
98
27
0
0
Hammersmith and Fulham
19
6
6
2
0
0
Haringey
128
40
50
34
0
0
Harrow
33
6
9
0
0
0
Havering
209
13
147
41
6
0
Hillingdon
137
26
37
65
0
1
Hounslow
140
42
59
25
5
0
Islington
329
167
104
24
18
8
Kensington and Chelsea
95
21
40
33
0
0
Kingston upon Thames
39
14
6
1
0
0
Lambeth
380
202
138
16
6
0
Lewisham
47
9
13
10
0
0
Merton
199
64
98
27
5
4
Newham
1,275
221
758
227
9
6
Not Specified
149
0
0
0
0
0
Redbridge
27
0
17
8
0
0
Richmond upon Thames
42
8
27
2
0
0
Southwark
518
147
254
85
14
1
Sutton
46
1
21
5
8
0
Tower Hamlets
762
248
254
138
22
0
Waltham Forest
357
98
171
76
9
0
Wandsworth
294
87
185
13
2
0
Westminster
156
37
30
8
0
0
Total:
9,051
2,445
3,908
1,669
172
20

Planning committee meetings

Andrew Boff: Would you like to see online planning committee meetings reinstated as a means of facilitating broader engagement with communities?

The Mayor: Online planning committees have worked well and business has largely continued effectively, with benefits including cost savings and increased participation rates in the democratic process. Going back to only face-to-face meetings will be a significant retrograde step. It could also slow the decision-making process given many lockdown measures are still in force.
RTPI research conducted with Grayling found that more than half of the UK public want to be involved in changes to their local community post-pandemic. The report found that digital engagement could be the key to unlocking participation from a larger, younger and more diverse cohort.
Legislation should be passed to allow virtual meetings to continue. I am introducing a hybrid model for my call-in hearings whereby participants will be offered the option of attending via remote means if they prefer. I am keen to capture the benefits from the accelerated use of technology during the pandemic to help make planning meetings accessible to all – including those who are less able to get to physical meetings as well as those who are less digitally focused. Barely a day passes without news of organisations exploring how best to harness digital technology in a post-Covid world. Planning should do the same.

Intermediate housing (1)

Andrew Boff: Further to MD2754 and your intermediate housing consultation, when do you intend to publish your proposed core list of key workers? What will be your criteria for defining roles as “essential to the functioning of London in normal times”?

The Mayor: As set out in MD2754 Intermediate Housing Consultation: Part 2 Consultation Response, further analysis and preparation of guidance on the Mayor’s housing policies, including key worker definitions, is underway and will complete by this Autumn.
A key part of this work will be to confirm the parameters for defining a core list of key workers that are outlined in MD2754, including the criteria for defining roles as essential to the functioning of London in normal times.

Enforcement against rogue landlords

Sem Moema: What additional powers and funding do you need from the Government in order to increase enforcement action against rogue landlords?

The Mayor: I believe universal property licensing, complemented by a system of light-touch landlord registration, will be critical to improving standards in the private rented sector. I am pleased that the government has recently committing to exploring the benefits of a landlord register and I continue to call on the government to devolve the power to consider and approve new property licensing schemes in London to City Hall, which could be used to help create more consistency in property licensing.
Councils also need the resources and powers to tackle rogue landlords effectively. I continue to call on the government to provide more funding to build the capacity and skills of councils’ private rented sector teams, which have been put under greater strain during the pandemic. My Better Renting programme is delivering upskilling training to councils across London, with over 200 officers trained on private rented sector enforcement topics since May 2020.

Average rents

Sem Moema: Please give a breakdown of the average rents in London for a 1 bed, 2 bed, and 3 bed home, for every year since 2010.

The Mayor: Data on average private rents by number of bedrooms in London and other regions since 2010 can be found in the Private Rental Market Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/datasets/privaterentalmarketsummarystatisticsinengland), and before that by the Valuation Office Agency (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/private-rental-market-statistics)

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Anne Clarke: In response to question 2021/1135 you incorrectly stated that the answer was to be found in your reply to question 2020/1134. Please provide a response to the question: ‘Does there need to be a review into all decisions made by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) into which materials are safe or not given the scandal over approval of flammable insulation? Do you have faith in the approvals granted by the BRE, and if not do you believe it is time to re-establish a public regulator?’

The Mayor: Evidence heard at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has brought into question the robustness of testing and governance measures in place at the Building Research Establishment (BRE). Grenfell has shown the pressing need for wholesale change across the entire industry. I await the Inquiry findings and recommendations on this point, but I believe all options should remain on the table, including steps by Government to ensure BRE has a clearer public interest role in enhancing building safety.
I have long called for the need for a more effective specification and testing regime for construction products with complete transparency allowing test results to be readily accessible by the public.
I also welcome the announcement of a new national construction products regulator that was established in January this year, as an additional layer of scrutiny to protect the public.

Gypsy and Travellers and the London Plan

Sakina Sheikh: How will the London Plan Policy for Gypsies and Travellers increase the delivery of culturally suitable accommodation, and what work is being done with councils to deliver this?

The Mayor: I understand the urgent need for culturally suitable Gypsy and Traveller accommodation. My London Plan Policy H14 Gypsy and traveller accommodation includes a commitment to lead a London-wide assessment of the accommodation needs of all Gypsies and Travellers. We are committed to working in partnership with Gypsies and Travellers, boroughs and representative organisations to plan and carry out this important research, which will provide a crucial evidence base for all London boroughs to inform future planning and other provision for Gypsy and Traveller communities.
At a local level, when reviewing their Local Plans, boroughs will be required to protect existing sites, undertake an audit of existing local authority pitches and plan for the needs of Gypsies and Travellers in line with Policy H14.

Evictions

Leonie Cooper: Given the end to the ban on evictions, can the Mayor update me on what he is doing to help those struggling with arrears - and what support residents in Merton and Wandsworth can access if they need help with this issue?

The Mayor: I welcomed the emergency measures that the government put in place to protect renters, but I have always been clear that, on their own, they are insufficient. I am calling for the government to make grants available to renters who cannot pay their rent, or have accumulated arrears, due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic. Alongside this, government should devolve powers for me to implement a two-year rent freeze in London, as a first step towards delivering rent controls that would make renting more affordable. The government should also act swiftly on its commitment to ban Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.
Further information for renters in Merton and Wandsworth, and links to sources of advice, is available on City Hall’s website. Residents struggling with arrears may also contact their borough’s Housing Options Team.

Waste Reduction & Recycling (2)

Leonie Cooper: Wandsworth is moving towards re-letting their waste contracts. Are your officers able to give them advice on how to incorporate segregated food waste collections, to reduce their waste collections and assist with hitting climate targets?

The Mayor: Under the GLA Act, all waste authorities must notify me of their intention to procure new waste contracts, and my officers assess whether the contracts are in general conformity with my London Environment Strategy (LES). It is a requirement of the LES that boroughs offer a separate food waste service to all properties with a kerbside collection, and Wandsworth’s new contract is due to start in 2024 and before the specification is advertised it will be assessed by GLA officers against this criterion among others including a commitment to reducing the carbon emissions associated with waste collection and disposal.
Through ReLondon I provide support and advice to all London boroughs on how to implement successful services that help to reduce waste, increase recycling and lower greenhouse gas emissions as well as best practice guidance, toolkits and communications assets.

Green Walls

Leonie Cooper: Many schools are on main roads. Does the Mayor have any funding or powers available for schools to be able to put up green walls to help protect from pollution?

The Mayor: The decision to install green walls rests with a school’s governing body. However, as part of my focus on improving air quality, £561,000 has been provided to schools for greening projects to tackle air pollution since 2018 and £575,500 provided through my air quality audit programmes to support the implementation of measures that could reduce exposure to air pollution, including green infrastructure. My Schools Pollution Helpdesk also provides advice on the suitability of green walls as an intervention and signposts to funding.
This summer I will launch my new funding programmes to create and improve green spaces and green the public realm. Schools will be eligible to apply to increase greening in their grounds.
These interventions work alongside the expansion of the ULEZ and tougher Low Emission Zone standards that will lead to 92 per cent of roads meeting legal limits for nitrogen dioxide by the end of this year.

London’s food supply

Marina Ahmad: There are concerns that the ending of the grace period for full customs checks in October may disrupt London’s food supply. How can you work with the Government to avoid a repeat of the issues London saw at the start of the pandemic when the capital’s food supply was disrupted?

The Mayor: There is a risk that full customs checks impact the price of food and/or availability in supermarkets and grocers. The British Retail Consortium has warned that UK customers may face higher food bills due to the additional red tape on imports from the EU, combined with rising global food prices and shipping costs. The Road Haulage Association has warned of a shortage of truck drivers, in part because of EU workers returning to their country of origin during the pandemic.
These combined issues have the potential to cause disruption. My officers will monitor these issues with stakeholders on the London Food Board and raise concerns with Government iffood prices or potential for other supply chaindisruption looks likely to impact vulnerable Londoners or worsen existing food insecurity.

Alton regeneration scheme

Leonie Cooper: Has Wandsworth Council been in contact about the revised plans for the Alton regeneration? Has there been any progress towards a formal Stage Two submission?

The Mayor: GLA officers are in ongoing discussions with Wandsworth Council regarding the Alton Estate application in relation to the supporting Financial Viability Appraisal and draft Section 106 agreement. A Stage 2 referral is expected in due course.

Business rates holiday

Marina Ahmad: What impact will the business rates holiday coming to an end on the 30th June 2021 have on retail and hospitality sectors?

The Mayor: Since the start of the pandemic the Government has provided funding to allow local authorities to offer 100% business rates relief to ratepayers in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. Up to 30 June 2021 London ratepayers will have benefitted from rates relief of just under £4 billion from this scheme.
As announced by the Chancellor in the budget in early March, from 1 July this relief is being reduced to 66%. This includes those business sectors which remain forcibly closed until at least 19 July due to lockdown restrictions.
In addition, there will be a £2 million cap on rates relief per business across the whole of England – so for many large operators in the non-essential retail, leisure, culture and hospitality sectors their total effective rates relief will drop, in effect, to below 5%. This national cap is only £105,000 for essential retailers (including pharmacies).
While I welcome the support provided to date, the Government must continue 100% relief for leisure and hospitality businesses beyond 1 July until restrictions are ended and also consider removing the £2m cap for high street retailers so they can receive the full benefit of the 66% discount for at least a further 3 months. This is absolutely critical for the recovery of the West End in particular given the ongoing downturn in footfall – and I endorse Nickie Aiken MP’s remarks in the Commons on 22 June about the disastrous impact of the £2m cap.
It should be noted, however, that rates relief has only been made available to retail, leisure and hospitality sector businesses which are considered ‘generally accessible to visiting members of the public’, meaning many operators in the leisure and hospitality supply chain including food manufacturers, caterers, commercial laundries, events management companies and across the culture sector (e.g. film production companies) have still had to pay 100% of their rates bill since March 2020. Firms in the health sector have not qualified for any rates relief.
On 25 March the Government announced an extra £1.5 billion local discretionary relief fund to businesses not in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors who had not benefitted from the pandemic relief scheme, for example, those in the supply chain to the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors which do not operate from public facing premises. But three months on this fund has not been allocated to local authorities by the Government. This delay is unacceptable as these firms need this relief now and many may struggle to survive through the summer if the distribution of this support is delayed until the autumn as we understand is the current intention.

Business rates review

Marina Ahmad: What representations have you made to the Government for the Business Rates Review which is due this autumn?

The Mayor: The Government committed to conduct a fundamental review of business rates in its 2019 election manifesto. In July 2020 it published a call for evidence which sought views on how the business rates system currently works and sought views on alternative taxes such as an online sales taxes and a capital value land tax. The intention of the review is to reduce the overall burden of business rates – which would potentially mean a reduction in funding for local services unless the lost revenues were replaced by an alternative revenue stream.
The GLA and London Councils submitted a joint interim and final submission to the call for evidence in autumn 2020. This called for greater local control over the tax and continued to make the case for business rates to be devolved to London local government and the regions and counties of England, as is already the case in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In its various guises business rates was of course always a locally set and locally controlled tax from the introduction of property taxes on commercial premises in 1601 until 1989 when it was nationalised in England.
The Government published its interim findings at the end of March 2021 but its final recommendations are not expected to be published until the autumn, potentially alongside the Spending review. This delay was to allow the Government to consider the impact of the pandemic and also for discussions with the G7 and other partners about the viability of introducing an online sales tax on an international basis to avoid companies relocating jurisdictions as a tax avoidance measure.

Solar Together scheme in Brent and Harrow

Krupesh Hirani: Please could you provide details of how many homes in Brent and Harrow have benefitted from the Solar Together scheme since its inception?

The Mayor: In the first three phases of my programme, the Solar Together was available to all Londoners but only advertised in boroughs which signed up to actively publicise the programme. Brent actively marketed Solar Together whereas Harrow did not. Ninety-eight homes in Brent and one in Harrow had solar photovoltaic panels installed.
The current phase of Solar Together is the largest yet, with publicity across every borough. In this phase, 68 households in Brent and 138 in Harrow have signed up to have solar photovoltaic panels installed.

Diversity in the Met police force

Krupesh Hirani: What measures are the Metropolitan Police taking to ensure that our police force is more representative of London’s diverse population?

The Mayor: Increasing the diversity of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is a key priority of my Action Plan on Transparency, Accountability and Trust in Policing.
I have set the MPS ambitious aims for 16% of its officers to be of Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) heritage by 2022, 21% by 2024 and 28% by 2030.
The MPS is undertaking a variety of activity to achieve this including:
Through my Action Plan I am supporting this activity by providing the MPS with over £5million across the next three years to deliver community outreach, community led training and a career development service.

Sector Skills Academies

Marina Ahmad: When do you expect to be able to open your new sector skills academies in London?

The Mayor: Based on the Mayor’s Construction Academy model, the Sector Skills Academies programme will deliver: an accredited Quality Mark in recognition of employer-focussed training provision; coordination resource to support local hub partnerships; a wider marketing campaign to promote careers opportunities to Londoners; and embedded support to underrepresented groups.
The first component of the Academies programme to launch will be the revenue-funded hub partnerships. These will bring together training providers, employers and other organisations to deliver increased collaboration of skills training and employment opportunities within priority sectors and to support Londoners most impacted by the pandemic to access employment opportunities. The Academies hub prospectus is due to launch this summer for partnerships to apply for coordination funding. It is anticipated that hub delivery will commence from January 2022 onwards.

Dedicated ward officers

Unmesh Desai: Please advise how the performance of dedicated ward teams is monitored across the Met, and if this information can be made publicly available?

The Mayor: Dedicated ward-based police teams are a significant part of the Metropolitan Police Service drive to make a local area a safer place to live, work and visit. They work with communities and local partners to identify and tackle issues of concern to local people, residents and businesses. Like all officers, their individual performance is monitored through ongoing performance appraisal, line management and the completion of annual training.
A dashboard is available to monitor whether dedicated ward officers are working within their wards or have been ‘abstracted’ for other duties (www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics/dwo-abstraction-dashboard).
The MOPAC website also contains publicly available information and data on crime trends (to a ward level) and confidence and satisfaction (www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics)

London Power sign up in Brent and Harrow

Krupesh Hirani: Since its launch in January 2020, can you please provide data for how many homes in Brent and Harrow have signed up to the London Power scheme?

The Mayor: London Power launched in January 2020 as a fair, affordable and green energy supplier for Londoners and is already serving over 5,500 customers.
London Power releases data on our customer numbers on a quarterly basis. As at 31 March 2021, London Power supplied 161 households in Brent and 150 in Harrow. I would like more households including in Brent and Harrow to have the benefits of being a London Power customer, and am working with boroughs to promote London Power, for example through their local communication channels. The London Power team would welcome your support to work more closely with Brent and Harrow.

Drinking fountains in Brent and Harrow

Krupesh Hirani: The Mayor has successfully installed drinking water fountains in public spaces in partnership with Thames Water at locations such as outside Willesden Green tube station in my constituency. I understand the fountains have been closed off and the programme paused due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Can the Mayor provide an update on when the programme will restart and when the closed drinking water fountains will reopen?

The Mayor: In response to the pandemic all 54 fountains (installed in partnership with Thames Water) were temporarily closed and new installations were paused, so that Thames Water could prioritise essential services to ensure Londoners had an uninterrupted supply of drinking water.
I am working with Thames Water to prepare the fountains for reopening in line with Step 4 of the Government’s reopening plan, which has been delayed to no earlier than 19 July. The fountains will be reopened in phases and will undergo thorough cleaning and water quality testing before they are reopened to the public. I plan to recommence new installations in the Autumn.
It’s important that we continue to tackle single-use plastic waste. Advice from the Scientific Technical Advisory Committee is that the fountains (specifically, water refill stations) are safe to use, as is refilling your bottle or coffee cup at participating businesses mapped on the Refill London app.

Adult Literacy

Nicholas Rogers: In response to my question (2021/2027) you advised there are no data for adult literacy post-2016 in London. In response to my subsequent question (2021/2028) you acknowledge that low levels of literacy act as a substantial barrier to work and education opportunities and hard social integration and cohesion. Given this, will you commit to commission the necessary research to identify the post-2016 levels of adult literacy in London?

The Mayor: The Survey of Adult Skills is taking place from 2018-2024. This survey is conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and monitors adult literacy rates in the United Kingdom and over 30 countries. The next wave of results will be published in 2024. As outlined in Mayor’s Question 2021/2027 we will continue to monitor uptake and achievement rates of English courses through the delegated Adult Education Budget (AEB).
This year, we are also introducing a London Learner Survey to hear directly from learners on the impact of their learning. The survey will create a new evidence base that can help show which courses have helped support learners into jobs or further education and had a social impact. Findings from the survey for the 2021-22 academic year will be published in 2023.
For 2021-22, we have asked grant funded AEB providers to produce a delivery plan setting out the contribution they will make to supporting London’s recovery. This will include proposed volumes of English and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) delivery for the next academic year.

Queen Portrait

Nicholas Rogers: Will the Mayor ensure a prominent portrait of HMTheQueen is on display in the lobby of The Crystalonce the GLA moves?

The Mayor: Yes, we will continue to display a portrait of the Monarch once we move to our new City Hall.

Support for Aviation Jobs

Nicholas Rogers: What specific actions are you taking to support those in the London Borough of Hounslow, especially those in Feltham andsurrounding areas, whose jobs are at risk due to the downturn in aviation following the pandemic?

The Mayor: The impact of the pandemic on sectors such as aviation and its wider supply chain has been significant. In response, through the London Progression Collaboration, we have been working with a range of partners in West London, including the London Borough of Hounslow, to support apprenticeship creation through the Reskilling the Recovery campaign. The campaign calls on London’s large employers to pledge unspent apprenticeship levy funds to support the recovery of SMEs.
As part of the wider London Recovery Programme, we will establish Sector Skills Academies across London. The Academies programme will provide high quality training, work experience and wider employment support focused on sectors such as Creative, Green and Digital, helping Londoners to develop the skills they need to find and progress in work. Along with the wider Adult Education Budget funded provision, the GLA is also working closely with boroughs and Jobcentre Plus to make training and job support better coordinated and more accessible for residents through the ‘No Wrong Door’ initiative.

Air quality

Nicholas Rogers: How many times in the last 12 months did air quality at Cromwell Road bus station, Kingston, breach legal limits?

The Mayor: There have been no exceedances of the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide near the Cromwell Road bus station in the last 12 months.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring. The monitoring site at Cromwell Road is owned and operated by Kingston, the data is publicly available here: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicbulletin.asp?site=KT5

Adult Education Budget Adult Literacy Spend

Nicholas Rogers: What specific schemes are you funding through your Adult Education budget to tackle Adult Literacy rates in London? Please give a breakdown of spend, scheme and year.

The Mayor: The Adult Education Budget (AEB) funds the majority of publicly funded English language learning in London. Since delegation of the AEB in 2019, we can report the number of learners accessing basic English courses, with breakdowns by level and geography. In 2019-20, 29,330 learners enrolled in 37,980 English (literacy) courses, and 44,120 learners enrolled in 81,590 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) (language) qualifications. This corresponds respectively to around £27m and £43m in spend. AEBdata is published on the London Datastore. The most recent release covers August2019 to July 2020.
As outlined in the response to Mayor’s Question 2021/2029, we introduced a £2.7m funding uplift through the AEB for all fully funded English and maths qualifications at Levels 1 and 2. From this September we are introducing an increase of 10 per cent to the funding paid for all AEB‑fundable qualifications up to and including Level 2, which includes English and ESOL provision. This will help ensure more Londoners achieve qualifications that improve adult literacy.

GLA Freehold and the Building Safety Scandal (3)

Anne Clarke: How many buildings where the GLA is freeholder have been remediated of dangerous cladding or other building safety defects since 2017? Please provide a borough by borough breakdown.

The Mayor: The GLA is aware that work to remediate unsafe cladding has commenced on four sites with buildings over 18 metres where GLA Land and Property (GLAP) is the freeholder. A further three sites have remediation works planned, and one site has completed remediation. The GLA does not provide borough by borough breakdowns of unsafe buildings in order to ensure that these buildings cannot be identified and protect resident safety.
The legal responsibility for remediation of these sites sits with the long-leaseholder. GLAP is in regular contact with long-leaseholders regarding building safety issues and continues to encourage them to move at pace to progress works, however it should be noted that they are not legally required to provide updates to GLAP.

Rail Grinding Costs (2)

Emma Best: Please advise the projected rail grinding costs on the approximately3,500 metres of track between Highbury & Islington and King’s Cross St. Pancras Victoria Line over the next 5 years?

The Mayor: Over the next five years, Transport for London expects that the total cost of rail grinding in this area will be approximately £1.9 million. This figure does not take into account inflation.

Affordable homes in South West London

Nicholas Rogers: Could you please provide a breakdown of the number of GLA-funded affordable homes completed inSouth WestLondon since 2016, by borough, number of bedrooms, tenure, and property type (house, flat, etc)?

The Mayor: Details of the number of bedrooms on schemes reporting start on site in 2016-17 are not held within the GLA Open Project system. Below are three tables. Table 1 shows the total number of affordable homes completed in South West London from April 2016 to March 2021, by borough, by tenure. Table 2 shows the total number of affordable homes completed between April 2017 and March 21, by borough, by bedroom size and reported within GLA programmes.Table 3 shows the total number of affordable homes completed between April 2017 and March 21, by borough by build type and reported within GLA programmes. To note, the submission of bedroom number and build type data is not mandatory and therefore has only been provided where it is available.
Table 1
Tenure breakdown
Location
Affordable Housing Completions
(Apr-16 to Mar-21)
Other Affordable Rent
Social Rent (and LAR at benchmarks)
Other Intermediate
London Living Rent
Shared Ownership
Croydon
1,332
467
209
24
39
593
Kingston upon Thames
283
158
3
13
0
109
Lambeth
1,532
521
169
78
0
764
Merton
457
122
34
1
11
289
Richmond upon Thames
210
137
16
3
0
54
Sutton
440
109
2
12
0
317
Wandsworth
1,159
267
118
10
0
764
Grand Total
5,413
1,781
551
141
50
2,890
Table 2
Bedroom breakdown
Location
Affordable Housing Completions 
(Apr 17 to Mar-21)
1 Bed/Studio
2 Bed
3 Bed
4 Bed
5+ Bed
Croydon
1,147
363
413
248
23
0
Kingston upon Thames
169
61
50
24
5
0
Lambeth
1,325
520
455
144
17
0
Merton
448
129
224
71
9
4
Richmond upon Thames
155
40
94
11
0
0
Sutton
374
129
150
58
12
0
Wandsworth
980
309
498
110
34
0
4,598
1,551
1,884
666
100
4
Table 3
Build type
Location
Affordable Housing Completions 
( Apr 17 to Mar-21)
Bungalow
Flat
House
Maisonette
Croydon
1,147
0
812
202
33
Kingston upon Thames
169
0
127
13
0
Lambeth
1,325
0
1,116
8
12
Merton
448
0
403
34
0
Richmond upon Thames
155
2
128
15
0
Sutton
374
0
292
57
0
Wandsworth
980
1
927
8
15
4,598
3
3,805
337
60

Climate and ecology assessments on all decisions

Zack Polanski: Will you commit to bringing in impact assessments on climate and ecology for every budget plan and official decision report in City Hall, to help reduce London’s carbon impact every time you make new policies or spending plans?

The Mayor: The Greater London Authority Act (1999) requires the Authority to “contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom” in exercising its statutory functions. There is a programme of work to fulfil this duty, including mainstreaming sustainability at the GLA and supporting the work of the Mayor’s London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC).
All major strategies and plans have to undergo an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) and in some cases a strategic environmental assessment (SEA). This assesses the impact of different proposals within strategies against a set of objectives including environmental, social, economic, health, community safety and equalities to ensure they are fully considered.
This has been applied successfully to all my major strategies to ensure policies and programmes continue to drive good growth in London. An example is the inclusion of the environmental cross-cutting principle in the London Recovery Board’s mission-based approach to a green and fair recovery.

Air quality

Nicholas Rogers: How many times in the last 12 months did air quality outside the Stag Brewery site in Mortlake breach legal limits?

The Mayor: There is no air quality monitoring station at or near to the Stag Brewery site in Mortlake.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring.

Air quality

Nicholas Rogers: How many times in the last 12 months did air quality at the junction of Syon Lane and the A4 in Osterley breach legal limits?

The Mayor: There have been no exceedances of the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide near the junction of Syon Lane and the A4 in the last 12 months.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring. The two monitoring sites nearby are owned and operated by Hounslow, the data is publicly available here: https://www.airqualityengland.co.uk/site/latest?site_id=HS6 and https://www.airqualityengland.co.uk/site/latest?site_id=HS5.

Manor Road Homebase planning application (1)

Nicholas Rogers: I understand the Manor Road Homebase development is currently being reviewed against the new London Plan. Could you please give an indication of progress on this along with details on what, if any, further consultation will be carried out?

The Mayor: Following the adoption of the new London Plan, GLA officers have been reviewing implications for the Manor Road application and discussions are ongoing. Given that GLA officers are still considering the implications of changes to policy and circumstances, and are yet to report to me on this, I am unable to confirm at this stage whether or not further consultation will be required.

Manor Road Homebase planning application (2)

Nicholas Rogers: Can you please confirm the process for reviewing the Manor Road Homebase development against the new London Plan, and whether a new public hearing will be held in view of its statusas a called-in application?

The Mayor: All changes to policy and site circumstances since the Representation Hearing held in October 2020 will need to be reported back to me through an update report from GLA officers. I will give these matters full consideration in due course and consider whether any changes would alter my original decision. As the decision maker, I am unable to provide further comment on the merits of the case at this time.
As GLA officers have not yet reported to me on their consideration of implications of changes to policy and circumstances, and their discussions with the applicant and Richmond Council, I am unable to confirm at this stage whether or not a further Representation Hearing will be required.

Osterley Homebase & Tesco planning applications

Nicholas Rogers: What progress has been made on the stage 2 referral report for the Osterley Tesco / Homebase applications? When can we expect a recommendation?

The Mayor: GLA and TfL officers have been in ongoing discussions with the applicant and Hounslow Council officers regarding these two applications. Further discussion is expected on the draft Section 106 agreement prior to the Council formally referring both applications to City Hall at Stage 2. There is no specific timescale for the Stage 2 referral at this stage.

Overcrowding in South West London (1)

Nicholas Rogers: How many people live in overcrowded homes inSouth WestLondon?

The Mayor: The most recent local authority level data on overcrowding comes from the 2011 Census, and is published by the Office for National Statistics here. For data on the number of people in overcrowded homes, see table LC2404EWls.

Overcrowding in South West London (2)

Nicholas Rogers: How many children live inovercrowded homes inSouth WestLondon?

The Mayor: The most recent local authority level data on overcrowding comes from the 2011 Census, and is published by the Office for National Statistics here. For data on the number of people in overcrowded homes by age, see table DC3404EW.

Overcrowding in South West London (3)

Nicholas Rogers: How many homes inSouth WestLondon are overcrowded?

The Mayor: The most recent local authority level data on overcrowding comes from the 2011 Census, and is published by the Office for National Statistics here. For data on overcrowded households, see table QS412EW.

Work from home

Marina Ahmad: It is right that Londoners continue to work from home where they can as per the Government guidance. Have you assessed the impact of working from home on London’s economy and how can you ensure that flexible working supports businesses that rely on office workers in the centre of London?

The Mayor: Government guidance continues to require that people who can work from home continue to do so to help suppress the virus and save lives. However, the vaccine rollout must be accelerated so that London’s workplaces can fully re-open.
Last year I commissioned research on the economic impact of the pandemic on London's Central Activities Zone (CAZ). According to the findings of Arup, Gerald Eve and the London School of Economics, there has been a £1.9bn loss in expenditure from commuters to the CAZ (£1.4bn of this expenditure is from commuters from London and £0.5bn is from commuters outside of London). The longer-term impact of a change to ‘hybrid’ working from home and office remains to be seen.
The pandemic has clearly changed the pattern of work in this country, but lots of central London’s brilliant businesses depend on footfall that comes from office workers – whether our dry cleaners, cafes, shops or bars. There are also significant benefits to workers meeting in the office, such as creative collaboration, mentoring and team building.
Many employers, including the GLA, are exploring a hybrid model of working whereby most staff split their time between remote and office working, and I recognise there are benefits to people’s work-life balance of not being in the office every day Monday to Friday. But as we emerge from lockdown, seeing more people safely return to offices and workplaces will be an important part of our economic recovery.

Backlog in medical treatments and operations

Caroline Russell: How will you be working with your strategic partners in healthcare delivery to address the severe backlog in medical treatment and operations that has arisen across London as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?

The Mayor: Whilst I have committed to championing the NHS on behalf of allLondoners,I have no responsibility for the deliveryofhealth services, including the management of waiting lists.
I will nevertheless continue to work closely with London’s NHS to champion and challenge them to address the backlog in medical treatment and operations.Imeet regularly withthe leadership ofthe NHS in London and receive updates on progress.

Impact of Metropolitan Police Service transformation programme underspend

Len Duvall: What has been the impact of the £26.2m underspend on the Metropolitan Police Service’s transformation programme? (https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mopac_q4_2020-21_monitoring_-_final_0.pdf).

The Mayor: The underspend in the transformation programme has primarily been caused by some re-alignment within the MPS major technology based programmes, including some delays linked to the impact of the COVID pandemic. This has meant that the anticipated expenditure this year was not required. The majority of this underspend has been re-forecasted to future years to align with adjusted delivery plans. This will have no impact on the overall quality of MPS transformation or ambition to ensure the MPS is ready to address future demands and meet the needs of Londoners.

Disabled Londoners (2)

Sem Moema: How does your London Plan ensure that the public realm is accessible to disabled Londoners?

The Mayor: My London Plan Policy D8 Public realm requires Development Plans and proposals to ensure the public realm is well-designed, safe, accessible, inclusive and easy to understand, all of which contribute to accessibility for disabled Londoners. This includes provision of seating, and the careful use, design and location of street furniture to reduce clutter.
The policy also seeks to reduce car travel and excessive on-street parking. For some disabled people this may be a concern as they are more reliant on car travel due to their specific circumstances. However, it can help to ensure that the available highways space is more focussed on Blue Badge holders and, where appropriate, taxis which better meet their needs, as well as buses which provide an accessible transport option for many disabled people. Improved walking environments (and associated reductions in noise and air pollution) will also benefit disabled people who rely on these forms of travel and those who, because of their disabilities, find high speeds and traffic volumes challenging.
The policy is further supported by emerging London Plan Guidance ‘Public London Charter’ which promotes the highest level of public access for all and strongly supports the provision and upkeep of amenities such as free drinking water fountains and publicly accessible toilets, including Changing Places toilets, in public spaces.
London Plan Policy D5 Inclusive design requires the highest standards of accessible and inclusive design to be assessed through inclusive design statements showing how the potential impacts on people and communities have been considered. This will ensure that the needs of disabled Londoners are taken into account where planning permission is required for proposals that impact on public realm or where new public realm is created, including privately owned public spaces within developments. The policy seeks to embed inclusive design in borough Development Plans and ensure collaboration with local communities in the development of planning policies that affect them.

Disabled Londoners (1)

Sem Moema: How does your manifesto deliver for disabled Londoners, and what work is underway to achieve those commitments?

The Mayor: My ongoing ambitions to improve the city for disabled people are outlined in my manifesto. I have pledged to do everything in my power to fight for equal access and equal opportunities for deaf and disabled Londoners. As part of this, I will ensure that the GLA involves and considers the needs of disabled Londoners in all our work.
The London Recovery Programme offers an opportunity for action and meaningful change to address structural inequalities which createharmful andunfairbarriers for disabled Londoners. Work underway includes efforts to address the disability pay gap and create and promote accessible and inclusive high streets and services. Alongside this I have asked Transport for London to develop its future step-free access programme and to provide guidance on removing access barriers across the city.
As I do what I can at City Hall to support disabled Londoners, I am also reaching out to Government to play its part by bringing forward its long-awaited disability strategy and deliver a fit-for-purpose social care system which respects the rights of disabled people.

Average wages in London

Sem Moema: What is the average wage per borough in London? Please break this down by borough and for every year since 2016.

The Mayor: The ONS publishes annual estimates on the median earnings of employees residing in each of London’s local authorities. These are based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), with a time series going back to 2002. Breakdowns are available by work pattern and gender, on either an hourly or a weekly basis. The attached table include estimates of median hourly earnings for all employees (male and female, part-time and full-time) for the years requested. In 2020 these ranged from £13.10 in Barking and Dagenham to £22.33 in Kensington and Chelsea. Alternative breakdowns are available on the London Datastore at:
https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/earnings-place-residence-borough.

The Mayor: Annex - MQ 2577-2021.pdf

Silvertown Road Tunnel consultation

Zack Polanski: Could you provide a list, with dates, of each consultation you have carried out on the Silvertown Road Tunnel, along with how many responses you received at each stage?

The Mayor: This information is publicly available in the Consultation Report published as part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) application for a Development Consent Order, available online here:
https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/TR010021/TR010021-000254-5.1%20Consultation%20Report.pdf
In summary, TfL carried out a comprehensive consultation on the scheme and analysis found the scheme was generally supported, with the user charging element of the scheme representing the most controversial aspect for respondents.

Operation Dauntless+

Sem Moema: How many high-risk domestic violence offenders are currently monitored under Operation Dauntless+?

The Mayor: As of 15 June 2021, there are 826 subjects in the Dauntless+ cohort.

Child witnesses of Domestic Violence

Sem Moema: Please provide the number of domestic abuse offences recorded in London in which a child was present, for each of the last three years.

The Mayor: Please refer to my previous answer to question 2021/1749 for years 2019 and 2020. For the current year (January to May 2021) the figure is 2,751.
Where an age of ‘0’ was recorded, these records have been excluded. Often these may be where the age is not recorded or known, so could lead to a significant over-count of victims, informants or witnesses.

Domestic Violence (2)

Sem Moema: Please provide the number of recorded domestic violence offences in London for every year since 2010.

The Mayor: Volumes of Domestic Abuse offences are published as part of the MPS 'hate crime or special crime dashboard'; which can be found here and spans April 2010 to the most recent available month - https://www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/hate-crime-dashboard/.

Young carers

Onkar Sahota: Young carers’ responsibilities can often have consequences for the rest of their lives, in mental and physical health problems, lost earnings, and constrained choices. What are you doing to support their wellbeing and future?

The Mayor: We know that loneliness and isolation can and will affect some young Londoners disproportionately in normal times but COVID-19 has increased this dramatically for groups such as young carers. The Recovery Board’s New Deal for Young People mission will target support at those young people in most need including young carers. Already, over a thousand young carers have been supported by my Young Londoners Fund. Projects such as Hidden Champions, delivered by LB Waltham Forest, are ensuring that young carers have support in place, so they have higher aspirations, motivation and prospects to pursue education, training or employment.
Young carers are active in my Peer Outreach Workers (POW) team, which works to ensure that young people can influencepolicy making andprogramme delivery at the GLA and wider. The POW team presented at a Carer’s Trust spring event for young adult carers on Young Carers Action Day and future partnership work is being planned with the Carers Trust.

Housing and disabled Londoners

Sem Moema: What role can the Greater London Authority play in ensuring new and existing housing in the capital meets the accessibility needs of Londoners with disabilities and supports independent living?

The Mayor: My London Plan Policy D7 Accessible Housing requires residential development to ensure that at least 10 per cent of dwellings meet Building Regulation requirement M4(3) for ‘wheelchair user dwellings’ which provides suitable accommodation for households with a wheelchair user. All other dwellings must meet Building Regulation requirement M4(2) for ‘accessible and adaptable dwellings’. These are homes constructed to be adjustable for use by a wheelchair user and include features to make the home suitable during periods of incapacity or a loss of mobility for example.
The draft London Plan Guidance Good Quality Homes for All Londoners includes standards for and guidance about the provision of accessible housing and inclusion. This goes beyond the immediate environment of the home and includes inclusive access, servicing and waste facilities, inclusive street environments and access to public transport networks and disabled persons parking.
Funding to remodel existing or build new homes for disabled Londoners to meet their specialist housing needs is available through my Affordable Homes Programme and Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) programme, with over £100m of capital funding allocated to date. My Homes for Londoners team continue to work with registered providers and local authorities to develop more homes for Londoners with specialist housing needs.

Effective Help For Rough Sleepers

Keith Prince: Is your ‘No Night Out’ promise being met?

The Mayor: Since 2016, City Hall programmes have helped 11,000 rough sleepers, 80% of whom are no longer on the streets. Most recently, in an immediate and world-beating response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GLA pioneered the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, working alongside London boroughs, central government, partners in health, voluntary sector and others. This ensured that COVID-secure accommodation was available to anyone rough sleeping in London. Our charity partners have supported around 1,300 of the 2,634 people we have accommodated to positively move on. Regrettably, many of the 577 currently in our hotels are unable to move on because their status as non-UK nationals severely limits their options. I am pressing the government to take action to ensure options for this group. Without this, these people are at high risk of returning to rough sleeping.

Climate impact reporting

Zack Polanski: Will you commit to reporting, in writing, the overall carbon impact of decisions and the progress of current carbon reduction policies every quarter to the Assembly?

The Mayor: I report on my main climate and energy programmes through the GLA’s quarterly performance monitoring process, which is shared regularly with the Assembly.

London Recovery Board

Neil Garratt: Will you provide reassurance that the London Recovery Board will undergo regular scrutiny, in terms of its age-friendliness?

The Mayor: The pandemic has exposed and exacerbatedLondon’sexisting inequalities. The London Recovery Boardiscommittedtonarrowingsocial, economic and healthinequalities,includingthoseexperienced byolderLondonersas one of it its key outcomes.
Severalmembers of theRecoveryBoard have been appointed for their expertise on structural inequalityare also members of my Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Group. Thisincludesmembers drawn fromorganisationsrepresentingolder Londoners.TheEDIgrouphas akey role in monitoring and advising on the extent to which the recovery programme is addressing inequality.
TheLondon Recovery Boardrecentlyagreed that a Sub-Group to drive activity to address structural inequalitywillbe formedto build on thework already underwayinresponseto thepandemic,as a result ofthe Board’sexistingcommitment to address inequality. Thedetails of that group’sscopeandremitwill beagreedin due course.

Progress towards targets for waste

Zack Polanski: Your Environment Strategy states that: “By 2026 no biodegradable or recyclable waste will be sent to landfill and by 2030 65 per cent of London’s municipal waste will be recycled.” Could you provide an update on London’s progress toward these targets?

The Mayor: London is the leading region in England in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. In London, the proportion of waste sent to landfill has dropped from 7.0 per cent in 2018/9 to 2.8 per cent in 2019/20 (comparative rates for England are 10.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent).
My 65% recycling target is for municipal waste, which includes household or business waste that is similar in composition. I have approved all 33 borough Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs). Taken together, if implemented in full by the boroughs, RRPs are expected to increase London’s household waste recycling rate from 33% today to 40% in 2022. Achieving the 65% target will also require improvement in recycling from businesses. I have no powers to direct businesses to deliver my strategy but if RRPs are implemented the number of boroughs providing commercial waste recycling services will increase from 29 to 31.

Intermediate housing (2)

Andrew Boff: Further to MD2754 and your intermediate housing consultation, what will be your approach to the size mix of new intermediate homes?

The Mayor: The London Plan 2021 asks planning applicants and decision-makers, for the first time, to have regard to a range of factors when determining the appropriate mix of unit sizes for a scheme, including robust local evidence of need and the requirement to deliver mixed and inclusive neighbourhoods.
Instead of setting a top-down London-wide target, this approach provides boroughs with the flexibility to secure size mixes that are appropriate to each scheme and broader needs of their area. The move to negotiated grant rates in the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026 will also mean that more funding may be available for larger homes, where these are required.

No-platforming

Tony Devenish: The public are against woke students “no-platforming” speakers at universities, found King's College London. Given last year you said: "I recognise that freedom of speech is absolutely essential to the proper functioning of any democratic society and is a basic right", will you loudly speak out against this new McCarthyism in London's universities and elsewhere?

The Mayor: I have always been clear that one of the joys of living in a democracy is freedom of speech. Challenging debate and discussion amongst students at London’s universities should always be encouraged. However, as I outlined in response to Mayor’s Question 2019/20759 which you quote from, there are sensible limits to freedom of speech; to protect against the incitement of violence and from racial or religious hatred. The laws we have in place around this are crucial for protecting the safety and security of Londoners, particularly minority communities, and protecting students from hate speech and intimidation on campus.

Silvertown Road Tunnel engagement

Zack Polanski: What has Transport for London (TfL) spent on engagement for or promotion of the Silvertown Road Tunnel scheme, by year, since the scheme was first considered?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has not spent any money promoting the Silvertown Tunnel scheme, although it has expended significant efforts in engaging and consulting with Londoners throughout the development of the scheme. The costs of this are generally from staff time and it is not possible to extract a specific figure from the wider staff costs for the project.
Non-staff costs will also include specific activities attributed to consultations, for example producing leaflets about the consultation, hiring venues, etc. However, it is not possible to extricate the specific costs of the public consultations for the scheme since they took place several years ago and formed part of wider project budgets. Now that construction of the scheme has commenced, some of these activities and costs are also being covered by the private finance raised by Riverlinx.
The general costs of the project are published as part of TfL’s usual investment programme reporting.

Rise Up Programme

Joanne McCartney: How many youth workers in (1) Enfield and (2) Haringey have taken part in the VRU's 'Rise Up' programme? What training and development have they received?

The Mayor: The Violence Reduction Unit is prioritising investment to those who hold key trusted relationships with young people most at risk of exploitation and violence. Frontline Youth Practitioners have the relationships with young people to deliver early interventions that can make all the difference to a young person’s future.
‘Rise Up’ launched on 30th September 2020 and is led by London Youth in partnership with Leap Confronting Conflict and Clore Social Leadership. Youth Practitioners receive training and mentoring development – including modules on safeguarding, mental health and employment opportunities – to act as a community-led first line of defence for young people most at risk. Full details of the leadership programme can be found online at: Rise Up: Youth Practitioners Leadership Programme.
The programme currently has 94 practitioners who are directly supporting young people within their communities. 3 Youth Practitioners from Haringey and 3 Youth Practitioners from Enfield are on the Programme.

Older persons’ action plan

Caroline Russell: In your answer to my question 2021/0458, on an older persons’ action plan, you stated that: “equality, diversity and inclusion has been adopted as a cross-cutting principle for the recovery programme,” and you also told me you will be making clear how this work will deliver for a number of different groups, including older Londoners, later in the year. Could you now share this with me?

The Mayor: Work to improve equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded in the delivery of each of the missions of the London Recovery Programme. Details of these missions can be viewed on London.gov.uk at: https://www.london.gov.uk/coronavirus/londons-recovery-coronavirus-crisi....
In addition, at its June meeting, the London Recovery Board agreed to establish a new sub-group to drive further activity to address structural inequality in London. The group will build on the work already underway in response to the pandemic, as a result of the Board’s existing commitment to address inequality. The details of that group’s scope and remit will be agreed in due course.
My deputy mayor, Debbie Weekes-Bernard will be meeting with the London Age-friendly Forum and other older people’s organisations in the coming weeks, to discuss how this work can address the needs of older Londoners.

Construction and Leaving the EU (1)

Sem Moema: With 37% of London’s construction workforce coming from EU countries, what impact has leaving the EU had on vacancies in the industry?

The Mayor: Manyconstructionbusinessessay they are struggling torecruitstaff at the moment, in part because of EU workers returning to their country of origin during the pandemic.
It is not clear how many of these EU nationals will return as jobs in London’s construction sector come back, after jobs declined by over 10% between March 2020 and 2021. Currently Build UK and the Federation of Master Builders say their members are reporting labour shortages in specific trades. I havebacked calls for a Covid Recovery Visatohelp bring foreign workers back quickly after lockdown and support the economic recovery.
I continueto urgeMinisters to reviewchanges to visa rules thatcame into force for EU nationals on 1 January2021, and tolobby for London to have devolved powers in relation to visas to allow businesses and public services to fill vacancies where they have acute shortages.

Construction and Leaving the EU (2)

Sem Moema: There are concerns that the new points-based immigration system will likely exclude roles such as general labourers, due to skills, salary and/or education thresholds. What impact could this have on the rate and cost of construction in the capital?

The Mayor: Many construction businesses say they are struggling to recruit specialist trades at the moment, in part because of EU workers returning to their country of origin during the pandemic.
It is too early to fully assess the impact on the labour market and wages, until it is clearer how many of these workers will return to London as jobs come back.
Certainly, GLA Economics’ 2019 analysis identified that London’s construction and building trades have the largest number of jobs held by EEA workers paying below the £25,600 salary threshold. Unless these roles are included as a shortage occupation, they will be ineligible for the points-based system. There are four so called “lower-skilled” occupations where 30-50% of jobs are filled by EEA workers (around 38,300 jobs overall), which are also excluded by the new rules. Furthermore, self-employed workers – a key part of the construction workforce – are excluded.

Construction and Leaving the EU (3)

Sem Moema: What support, if any, is the Greater London Authority providing to SMEs in the construction industry who are concerned about what changes in the immigration system will mean for their workforces?

The Mayor: Support is available to small businesses, including those in the construction sector, via the GLA-funded London Business Hub: https://www.businesshub.london/
Businesses can access free advice there on how to implement the changes required to continue to do business with the European Union, including how to retain and recruit EU staff.
Through the Specialist Business Advice service they can access up to three hours of free support from a panel of professional services advisers, which include immigration lawyers. The website also provides a sector-specific guide for construction businesses and a more general guide on recruiting staff from overseas.

Construction Academy

Sem Moema: What impact has your Construction Academy had on providing Londoners with the skill and opportunities to find work in the construction sector, and how are you measuring your success?

The Mayor: The Mayor’s Construction Academy (MCA) was set up to address skills shortages in the construction sector. The MCA hub partnerships have been developing and strengthening partnership working between employers, training providers and other local partners to improve the quality and relevance of training provision and help Londoners, including those from underrepresented groups, to progress into employment in the sector. Since activity began in March 2019, the hubs have reported that an additional 18,290 learners have completed a construction training qualification across the hub areas.
The programme is also capturing and sharing new ways of working and best practice. This information is shared via regular partner networks and will be detailed in the evaluation report which is due to be published in September 2022.

Support for EU migrants

Siân Berry: EU migrants are at particular risk of homelessness already and face new problems as Brexit progresses. Will you create a new team within the homelessness service at City Hall focused specifically on reaching and supporting them?

The Mayor: There are two members of staff based in my rough sleeping team, but who work jointly with my social integration team, whose roles are focused specifically on rough sleeping and migration, which includes supporting EU nationals rough sleeping in London.

Data on discrimination in housing policies

Siân Berry: Will you use your influence to encourage local authorities in London to automatically record the protected characteristics of those presenting at housing options services, to demonstrate any evidence of discrimination in housing policies?

The Mayor: Local authorities are required to collect data on statutory homelessness and report it to the Ministry of Communities and Local Government. This data is published quarterly for all local authorities and can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics
The data collected by local authorities includes information on age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity and pregnancy. I encourage local authorities to collect the information they need to ensure their housing policies are fair and help those most in need; and I remain committed to making the city for all Londoners to live free from discrimination, as set out in my Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Protecting rough sleepers from Covid

Sem Moema: What work is underway to ensure those who are sleeping rough on London’s streets are protected as we enter a potential third wave of the Covid pandemic?

The Mayor: The GLA pioneered the ‘Everyone In’ initiative and we are continuing to provide COVID-safe accommodation to London’s rough sleepers as the pandemic endures. My rapid response outreach team is also continuing to help those on the streets access accommodation and support.
In addition, I am working with STP and colleagues in health to ensure that there are tailored offers of vaccination to those on the streets in the most appropriate settings. Also, at the start of July, we will be opening a network of hubs to provide rapid assessment and intensive casework. These will act as a front door to COVID-secure accommodation in GLA-procured hotels, as people currently accommodated in those hotels positively move on, opening up more space for those on the streets.

Right to Buy receipts

Sem Moema: What representations have you made to Ministers about ending restrictions on the use of Right to Buy receipts?

The Mayor: In 2018, I responded to the Government’s ‘Using receipts from Right to Buy sales’ consultation. My response to this consultation is available here.
I was pleased to see the Government publish its response to this consultation in March 2021 and I support the Government’s decisions to introduce new flexibilities governing the way that boroughs can spend their retained Right to Buy receipts. However, as outlined in my submission response, the reforms do fall short of what is required.
Boroughs are best placed to make decisions about how proceeds from the sale of their assets should be used to replace social housing locally. On this basis, I continue to argue that boroughs should be allowed to keep 100 per cent of sales receipts and the time limit for spending Right to Buy receipts should be removed entirely.

A10 road racing

Caroline Russell: A constituent has contacted me concerned about road racing on the A10 by Bury Street West. They are worried about: “the noise of gunning cars” participating in informal road races and feel the problem is increasing. What, if any, enforcement has been undertaken by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Roads and Transport Policing Command?

The Mayor: The MPS is monitoring a number of locations across London regarding this issue. A multi-agency approach is being taken in North London, including the site at the A10 by Bury Street West, to develop both enforcement and prevention tactics.
Informal interventions have been made around this area as part of intelligence led patrols and this area is now high on the MPS list of priority areas. The MPS has assured me that an increase in policing presence will be seen over the coming months.
Any local intelligence from residents is welcomed by the police to help build a picture of the dangerous and careless driving, but only if it safe to do so. Any intelligence can be passed through the BCUs to the Proactive Safer Roads Team who will look to prosecute where evidence allows.

London Living Rent

Sem Moema: What is the London Living Rent in each London borough? How does this compare to market rents per borough?

The Mayor: The published London Living Rent benchmarks are intended to reflect ward-level variations in incomes, housing market conditions and property sizes, and my officers have therefore not published borough-level versions for comparison with private rents.

EWS1 forms

Siân Berry: A constituent has raised the issue with me that their shared ownership home sale has fallen through three times because the lenders are requesting EWS1 forms, despite the fact the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors advice is that their flat does not need one (the flat in question is in a building less than four storeys tall AND remedial work on the cladding already having been carried out). What action are you taking to ensure that lenders are not requesting unnecessary EWS1 forms?

The Mayor: I am conscious of the challenges faced by thousands of people, such as your constituent, who are unable to move on with their lives in the absence of an EWS1 form. Unfortunately, the EWS1 process remains industry driven. While the guidance has received government support, it is not a statutory document and its application is subject to lenders’ risk appetite.
Despite having no statutory influence, I am committed to doing what I can to improve the experience for leaseholders. My team has met with lenders to understand the rationale for requests. My Homes for Londoners Board has set up an EWS1 Task and Finish Working Group to support social sector landlords to improve the experience of residents navigating the EWS1 process. We will engage with lenders to understand how they are applying the guidance through this work.
Ultimately, as I have repeatedly made clear, a long-term funding solution which protects leaseholders from costs is key to resolving this situation.I will continue to lobby ministers to ensure that leaseholders are protected.

Communal night shelters

Siân Berry: What are you doing to make sure that next winter’s homelessness provision does not include communal night shelters?

The Mayor: Before the winter of 2020/21, communal spaces were generally used for Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) accommodation. Given the pandemic, a radically different approach was taken last winter, whereby only en-suite accommodation was used. This winter, the GLA will again only use accommodation that is COVID-secure – subject to sufficient government funding being made available for this purpose. GLA officers will continue to work closely with colleagues in London’s councils to ensure the London’s rough sleepers are kept safe this winter.
A network of hubs will provide rapid assessment and intensive casework, and will act as a front door for this COVID-secure accommodation. Also, several of the GLA-procured hotels opened earlier in the the pandemic will remain open until March 2022. They will continue to provide casework to those brought in during Everyone In, as well as being ‘staging post’ accommodation for those moving off the streets over the autumn and winter.

Incorrect coronavirus charges (2)

Caroline Russell: What are your plans to avoid more Londoners being caught up in the criminal justice system on incorrect coronavirus-related charges?

The Mayor: All fixed penalty notices issued by the MPS are subject to an evidential review to ensure the correct offences are considered; that there is sufficient evidence of a breach of the restrictions and it is in the public interest to proceed with issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). The review team also consider whether the national 4E’s strategy was considered by the officer as part of that review:
Challenged cases are subject to a further review prior to consideration as to whether the individual should be subject to court proceedings.
It was identified initially that a number of people were incorrectly charged in custody with offences under the Coronavirus Act 2020. (Please see 2269/2021). Action was taken immediately to ensure that the correct legislation was applied.

COP26 and the London Plan

Sakina Sheikh: Does COP26 offer us an opportunity to signal to the world our London Plan is a roadmap to ensure London is transitioning to a green future?

The Mayor: Yes, I will use the lead up to and my presence at COP26 to amplify London’s global leadership on climate and a green and fair recovery. The Good Growth principles at the heart of my London Plan build sustainability and a greener future into all my plans. It introduces a number of innovative policies which could be used as a model for other parts of the UK and the world. This includes net zero carbon developments, policies to promote the circular economy, reduce embodied carbon in construction and protect and enhance green infrastructure. It is operating alongside the London Environment Strategy and my Transport Strategy to support the delivery of my Green New Deal and make London a global leader.
COP26 also presents an opportunity to engage with communities and businesses on climate action and advocate for the devolution of powers and funding that London needs to tackle the climate emergency.

Collecting Data on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Victims of Hate Crime

Caroline Pidgeon: Will you look to ensure MOPAC collects data on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller hate crimes that take place in London and also ensure that this information is included on the MOPAC Hate crime dashboard?

The Mayor: It is important that data on hate crimes against all communities is made publicly available. Hate crimes on the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are small in number and the MOPAC Dashboard provides data at a ward level. There are therefore data protection implications for publicly displaying data at this level of detail as there is a risk it could be personally identifiable. MOPAC will explore with the MPS how data on hate crimes against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities can be made publicly available in a way which is compliant with data protection legislation.

Violence Prevention Programmes Data Sharing with MOPAC

Caroline Pidgeon: Are all the various violence prevention programmes funded and supported by MOPAC and/or the Met in custody suites, A&Es and communities across London providing data and information on details such as the location of crimes and weapons used by the GLA Safe Stats team?

The Mayor: The range of violence prevention programmes funded by the VRU and MOPAC is extensive. There is a balance to be achieved, to enable data sharing in such a way as it does not disclose personal information.
There are some funded programmes where data sharing is not appropriate, particularly those that provide individual targeted support such as mentoring or therapeutic support.
The VRU works closely with the GLA SafeStats Team and uses comprehensive data to inform its strategic plan and priorities. Core data includes ISTV submissions from A&E’s, as well as police crime data which provides location and weapon related data. Work is currently being undertaken to look at how additional data from funded programmes within A&E’s can be supplied that is legislatively compliant.
The datasets available through SafeStats enable the VRU and partners to measure and monitor violence and wider drivers of violence such as employment and deprivation.

Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs)

Caroline Pidgeon: Will MOPAC be formally consulting ICVs on whether or not they wish to maintain the option of virtual visits once COVID-19 restrictions are eased, or whether they wish to move back to exclusively conducted in-person visits?

The Mayor: The Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) Code of Practice, as set down by the Home Office, requires in-person visits and, while the Government have enabled flexibility on this during to the pandemic, there is a requirement to return to physical visits as the circumstances allow. A significant number of ICVs have maintained in-person visits throughout the pandemic.
MOPAC plans for a full return to physical visits in line with the Government’s Roadmap. Given the 4-week pause at Step 3, this had been pushed back to 21 July at time of writing the response to this question.
MOPAC officers are engaging with ICVs to provide reassurance and support in returning to normal practices. This includes providing details of the availability of PPE and cleaning facilities, track and trace arrangements and social distancing measures within their designated suite. In addition, all ICVs have been offered the opportunity to make a refamiliarisation visit to their designated custody suite.

Engage Programme in Custody Suites

Caroline Pidgeon: Given the value youth workers can have in custody suites to use the teachable moment of arrest to reduce reoffending, do you have plans to expand the Engage Programme currently being operated in two custody suites in London?

The Mayor: ENGAGE has shown to be an effective programme working in both Holborn and Islington police custody suites. By working collaboratively with Camden Council, the MPS and trained youth workers it has demonstrated strong outcomes working with over 175 10-18 year olds in 2020.
The VRU recognises the importance of supporting young people at critical moments in their life and has therefore applied to the Home Office to expand the ENGAGE Programme into two further London Boroughs. The VRU will share best practice to ensure an even greater amount of children that come into police custody are supported.
The VRU has also recently invested an additional £907,000 to expand the DIVERT Programme across 12 custody suites across London to help young people aged 18-25.

Tube Map Changes (1)

Emma Best: How many Tube Maps will TfL need to replacein order toreflect the introduction of Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station as Zone 1 stations and the re-zoning of Kennington as Zone 1/2?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) produces several different Tube maps, from the ones customers see in stations through to maps providing additional information, for example Step Free maps. All maps will be updated. Some maps are printed and available in stations while others are available on-line. It is difficult to give an exact number for each type of map as the number of maps on display varies across each station and includes new maps for all TfL Tube and Rail services. The Tube map is updated twice a year,in Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter and the Northern Line extension and re-zoning of Kennington will be part of the Autumn/Winter update.

Climate Emergency and the Planning System

Sakina Sheikh: How can we continue to prioritise the climate emergency through the planning system?

The Mayor: The planning system has a crucial role to play in tackling the climate emergency and my London Plan sets clear policies both to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
For example, the Plan has policies for new buildings to not only be net zero-carbon but to reduce embodied carbon too. It promotes sustainable locations for development which will reduce transport emissions and has a strong focus on reducing car dependency and supporting a modal shift to cycling and walking.
It is essential that development is designed to be adapted and resilient to the inevitable impacts of climate change and the Plan requires development to follow a cooling hierarchy to reduce risks of internal overheating. It recognises the multiple benefits of green infrastructure and has strong protections for existing green spaces. It also introduces an Urban Greening Factor (UGF) for high quality green infrastructure and streets to cool and shade the public realm, help manage rainwater and reduce the risk of flooding.

Retrofit Revolution

Sakina Sheikh: How will your new London Plan help you in the “Retrofit Revolution” to upgrade London’s buildings so that they are as energy efficient as possible?

The Mayor: The high environmental standards for new developments in the London Plan will ensure that new buildings are highly energy efficient and do not add to the burden of buildings that need to be retrofitted. My London Plan policies have helped generate £90 million of carbon offset funds since 2016 across the boroughs to support their climate emergency programmes, including retrofitting projects. Furthermore, the introduction of the whole life-cycle carbon and circular economy policies will promote refurbishment over demolition and new-build to reduce embodied carbon.
However, most of London’s existing buildings that require retrofitting will not come through the planning system and I do not have powers to set standards for these buildings. 78% of London’s carbon emissions come from existing homes and workplaces which is why the “Retrofit Revolution” is so important.

Diversity in the Planning Industry

Sakina Sheikh: How are you encouraging more diversity in the planning industry?

The Mayor: My planning team are currently developing a multi-pronged programme designed to challenge the industry, provide career support and improve the diversity of the pipeline of people entering the sector. This includes challenging representation at meetings and events; developing a project for schools to raise the profile of the planning industry (focusing on schools serving the most diverse communities); and working with the RTPI to develop a planning apprenticeship programme.
This approach is in line with the Supporting Diversity pillar of my Good Growth by Design programme, which has been working to increase diversity across the built environment sector. The Supporting Diversity Handbook sets out actions on barriers in the sector to equality diversity and inclusion, and brings together research, examples of leadership and recommendations that can be applied at all career stages.
We also continue to support Public Practice, the social enterprise working to increase and diversify the built environment expertise working in local government.

OPDC Local Plan Changes

Sakina Sheikh: How will the revised Local Plan for the OPDC still deliver for London?

The Mayor: OPDC’s Local Plan provides the planning policy framework to support one of London’s most important regeneration opportunities, helping to optimise the benefits that High Speed Two will bring to Old Oak Common, and playing a vital role in London’s recovery and prosperity.
OPDC’s Local Plan targets the delivery of 13,800 new and affordable homes in the next ten years and 25,500 over its lifetime, along with a major town centre around the new station, embodying the attributes of a walkable ‘15-minute city’.
It also targets 56,000 new jobs across a range of sectors with ambitious plans to attract and support businesses by protecting key sites for employment use and encouraging industrial intensification.
The Plan requires a third of new development to be protected public space and includes clear policies to support good growth and healthy streets, prioritising sustainable travel, reducing CO2, and delivering positive health outcomes.

Online Planning Committee Meetings

Sakina Sheikh: Would you encourage more planning committee meetings to be held online so they are more accessible?

The Mayor: Yes, online planning committees have worked well, increasing participation rates in the democratic process.
RTPI research conducted with Grayling found that more than half of the UK public want to be involved in changes to their local community post-pandemic. The report found that digital engagement could be the key to unlocking participation from a larger, younger and more diverse cohort.
Legislation should be passed to allow virtual meetings to continue. I am introducing a hybrid model for my call-in hearings whereby participants will be offered the option of attending via remote means if they prefer. I am keen to capture the benefits from the accelerated use of technology during the pandemic to help make planning meetings accessible to all – including those who are less able to get to physical meetings as well as those who are less digitally focused.

PM2.5 and Woodburning (1)

Leonie Cooper: A recent report prepared for DEFRA stated that 82.6% of Londoners do not burn materials either indoors or outdoors. However, the second highest source of PM2.5 in London is biomass burning. How will you be working with Londoners to address this and to encourage a reduction in woodburning?
DEFRA, ‘Burning in UK Homes and Gardens,’ 10 December 2020
Mayor of London, ‘PM2.5 in London: Roadmap to meeting World Health Organization guidelines by 2030,’ October 2019

The Mayor: In June my Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy wrote to all solid fuel suppliers in London to remind them about the new national regulations on permitted fuels, as well as providing some background on the health impacts of air pollution. This letter was co-signed by Mayor Glanville representing London Councils.
To support boroughs in raising awareness of the impact of wood burning and enforcement of the new regulations the GLA has recently developed and disseminated three online training modules aimed at air quality officers and enforcement officers. In addition to this, we have set up a pan-borough Wood Burning Working Group to co-ordinate borough action across London.

Early Years Support

Onkar Sahota: London’s early years sector is essential in preparing children for school but there are rising reports of children emerging from the pandemic who have regressed and no longer have the basic skills they should by the time they start school. What are you doing to urgently address this?

The Mayor: We know the difference that quality early education can make, especially as we recover from the pandemic. It promotes a healthy start in life, social cohesion and narrows the inequality gap.
It’s essential that we support the sustainability of London’s early years sector over the coming months, so that early years providers are able to reach out and support local families who have stayed away because of the pandemic. Research which I commissioned last year found that 64 per cent of nurseries and 56 per cent of childminders considered their services to be at risk of closure in the next 12 months. These figures rose in disadvantaged areas, where families are more vulnerable.
That’s why I have launched Strong Early Years London - it offers essential business support to providers across the capital, with those most at risk able to access more intensive help until March 2022. As part of the London Recovery Programme, I have also committed funds through the Robust Safety Net Recovery Mission for work to encourage take up of early years entitlements. I will continue to work with partners across London to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the sector as a whole.

Aecom Report on Brownfield Sites

Sakina Sheikh: Do you agree with Aecom’s report stating that London could fit 400,000 homes on brownfield sites?

The Mayor: The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) 2017, which underpins my London Plan, comprises a detailed and comprehensive study of London’s available brownfield land. The SHLAA identified capacity for 400,470 homes on large sites (0.25ha or above) over the 10-year period from 2019 to 2029, a figure which informed the housing targets set out in my London Plan. The method for determining this capacity was accepted through the Plan’s Examination in Public which took place prior to its publication earlier this year.
Officers in the London Plan team have scrutinised Aecom’s report ‘London 2070: Our vision for the future city region’. Although the potential for 400,000 homes on brownfield sites has been quoted in the press, officers can see no reference to this set out in the actual report.

Met workforce - disabilities

Susan Hall: What has and is the Met doing to ensure people with disabilities are able to be part of its workforce?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is a Disability Confident Employer committed to enabling candidates with disabilities to demonstrate their full potential in all recruitment and selection activities. It has achieved Level 2 Business Disability Confident Employer status.
The MPS HR team and MPS Disability Staff Association work closely to continuously improve the support and reasonable adjustments offered to disabled employees.
This includes the use of a career development service, the introduction of workplace passports and a central workplace adjustments hub, making it easier to record and implement requirements.

Small Sites

Sakina Sheikh: How will you still encourage affordable housing on small sites despite the removal of that requirement from the 2021 London Plan?

The Mayor: Provided that they have the evidence to support this approach, boroughs are free to seek affordable housing contributions on sites of less than 10 units through Local Plan policy, irrespective of whether or not it is specifically mentioned in the London Plan. A number of boroughs have already introduced such a policy and I will continue to support any boroughs that wish to do so in the future.
In 2019 I launched a new package of support for smaller and medium-sized housing associations that are well positioned to deliver on small sites. This includes an option to drawdown 75% of Affordable Homes Programme grant allocations in the 2016-23 programme to acquire land. This is a significant benefit to smaller providers and should enable more fully affordable minor development schemes.
I am particularly keen to support councils to realise their homebuilding ambitions by making best use of their own land, including small sites. Last year I published new legal guidance to help boroughs maximise non-residential assets for housing delivery, including garages and carparks held in the General Fund.
While the LEAP funding for my Small Sites Small Builders came to an end earlier this year, the programme continues to support public landowners to bring forward small sites through the Small Sites Small Builders portal. A recent evaluation of the programme concluded that it was successful in incentivising public landowners to release sites. My team are now reviewing potential capital and revenue funding streams to support its ongoing work.

Police Community Support Officer and Police Specials progression

Marina Ahmad: Please advise how many Police Community Support Officers, and Police Special Constables, have been through the Met’s online assessment centre in each of the past 3 years. If possible, please also advise the proportion of these candidates who passed and failed on each of the following: situational judgement test; competency based interview; written assessment and briefing exercise. Please also provide the demographic breakdown of these applicants.

The Mayor: 2458.pdf

Police Community Support Officer and Police Specials progression (2)

Marina Ahmad: How many Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) originally applied to become Police Constables before becoming PCSOs? Please provide the ethnic breakdown of these PCSOs if possible.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is unable to provide this data for all current Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) due to the long length of time some of them have served.
However, in the last three years the MPS has recruited 309 PCSOs, of whom 209 had previously applied to the MPS to be a police officer.

Cladding Question time for London

Anne Clarke: How are you working with End Our Cladding Scandal and the UK Cladding Action Group to organise a Cladding Question Time in London, following your support for such a meeting to happen?

The Mayor: My Deputy Mayor and officers regularly liaise with leaseholder campaign groups and I am a vocal supporter of the End Our Cladding Scandal Campaign. I have been lobbying government for leaseholders to be protected from the costs of keeping their buildings safe. As I have previously said, I would be supportive of groups holding a Cladding Question Time for London but I am not aware that any event is currently being planned.

Small changes to reduce consumption of single-use plastics (1)

Leonie Cooper: Following on from your successful campaign to discourage the use of single-use plastic bottles, what small changes will you be encouraging Londoners to make to reduce London’s reliance on single-use plastics?

The Mayor: In addition to the Refill London initiative and my partnerships with Zoological Society of London and Thames Water to install a network of drinking fountains, I am supporting a number of SMEs, through my Better Futures programme as part of my Green New Deal, who aim to offer Londoners products to replace single-use plastics. These include Shellworks who produce Chitan from crustacean shells to replace single-use plastic, Homethings who offer home cleaning products in tablet form to avoid the need for plastic packaging and Cauli Box who offer reusable takeaway food boxes.
ReLondon outlined a series of ‘action opportunities’ in their 'Reducing single-use plastic consumption’ report published last month, such as how to strengthen existing activities and accelerate efforts to reduce consumption of single-use plastic in London. My officers are now working with ReLondon to assess these ‘action opportunities’.

National Recovery

Marina Ahmad: Have your visits to Yorkshire and Liverpool shown how crucial London’s economic recovery is to the rest of the country?

The Mayor: I am determined to do all I can, including working closely with the Government, to help support the UKs recovery and to get London’s economy firing again.
The whole of the UK’s local economies, cities and regions simply don’t exist in isolation and we are bound together by supply chains and a complex web of social and commercial ties. There is no doubt that when London succeeds, whole country benefits, whether that’s due to the capital’s attractiveness as a place in which to invest or to visit, which has huge implications for business and the supply chain, or to the ground-breaking innovations and technological developments that help to transform the UKs economy and society.
London is willing and open to share our success and to play our part in helping to deliver levelling up to places all across the UK.

NHS Patient Records

Tony Devenish: What representations have or will you make as chair of the London Health Board to the NHS, DH, NHS Digital regarding the privacy and data protection concerns that the NHS is digitising patient records with minimal public consultation in the middle of a health pandemic? Have you considered the impact of this change on London’s recovery plans, do you share Foxglove’s concerns on who has access to these records and have you used any of the GLA’s communications to publicise the 23rd June “opt out” deadline?

The Mayor: I understand that, following representations by the BMA and others, NHS Digital has deferred the start of the collection of GP data for Planning and Research and the opt-out deadline to September 2021 to provide more time to speak with patients, doctors, health charities and others. It is very important that the government proceeds in a way that builds public trust.
I recognise that health data can be used to improve services for Londoners and develop new treatments. Indeed London has led the way on talking to the public on how and when their data should be shared by the NHS. The OneLondon Citizens’ Summit, which I supported, brought together 100 Londoners in February and March 2020 to debate and deliberate the complex issues around uses of health and care data. The Summit identified Londoners’ expectations about use of their data, who should have access to it, and for what purpose. The full report can be read here: https://www.onelondon.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Public-deliberation-in-the-use-of-health-and-care-data.pdf

Early Years business support

Marina Ahmad: How many of London’s under pressure nurseries and childminders do you hope to support with your £150,000 in a new programme to provide business support and to create a sector-specific one-stop-shop on the London Business Hub?

The Mayor: I have now launched my Strong Early Years London programme, in which I have invested £150,000 to provide vital business support to Private, Voluntary and Independent early years providers across the capital. ‘Strong Early Years London’ will be led by the Early Years Alliance. By the end of March 2022, it aims to support 2,500 providers (including childminders) through its universal support offer - this includes access to a sector-specific business support page hosted on the London Business Hub and a series of webinars, workshops and local surgeries. Of the 2,500 supported through the universal offer we expect that 700 providers identified as eligible for more intensive support will access a personal, telephone-based triage service, helping them to identify the help they most need. 200 of these eligible providers will go on to access the programme’s most intensive, bespoke business support offer.

Environmental Impact of Recycling Plants

Marina Ahmad: Are you taking steps to mitigate the possible environmental impact of metal recycling, for example, the proposed move of the Southwark Metals recycling site to Windsor Grove in Lambeth could see over 100 vehicle movements daily, close to two local schools.

The Mayor: My London Plan is clear that boroughs’ planning decisions should take account of nuisance-generating uses sensitively, along with air quality and other environmental impacts. Where applications are referable to the Mayor, my officers assess compliance with the London Plan, making recommendations to the local authority that these requirements are met and are a condition of planning permission. The application to locate the waste site at Windsor Grove is not referable and will therefore be determined by the local authority, taking account of any concerns highlighted by interested parties during the consultation.
It is the responsibility of the local authority and Environment Agency to address any concerns about the operations of a particular site and the impact on the local area once operational. Local authorities have powers to enforce conditions of the planning permission and the Environment Agency has powers to enforce environmental regulations set out in the site’s Environmental Permit.

Coronavirus Recovery Visa

Marina Ahmad: You have shown support for a “Coronavirus Recovery Visa” to help workers from outside the UK to come back and work. How crucial is this to getting London’s economy back on its feet?

The Mayor: Many hospitality, social care and construction businesses say they are struggling to recruit staff for key roles, in part because of EU workers returning to their country of origin during the pandemic.
I have backed calls for a Covid Recovery Visa to help bring foreign workers back quickly after lockdown and support the economic recovery. I continue to urge Ministers to review changes to visa rules that came into force for EU nationals on 1 January 2021.
I am also lobbying for cities such as London to have devolved powers in relation to visas to allow businesses and public services to fill vacancies where they have acute shortages. It’s crucial to London’s recovery that we do everything we can to help hard-hit sectors to recruit the staff they need; and my skills academy programme will also support this.

Supporting owner occupiers to take on lodgers

Siân Berry: To ease London’s overcrowding will you work with local authorities to support owner occupiers to take on lodgers, including advice for potential landlords and lodgers and support for high standards?

The Mayor: I believe that owner occupiers taking on lodgers can often be of mutual benefit, and can help to maximise the efficient use of London’s housing stock. The pandemic has, however, shone a new light on how precarious this arrangement can be. My London Model for tenure reform recognises that there is more work to do to ensure that all lodgings let on licence are fit for purpose, to better support and inform landlords and to ensure that unscrupulous landlords do not provide licences where an Assured Shorthold Tenancy would not be more appropriate. My housing team continues to identify opportunities to raise this with government, including through influencing the contents of the renters’ reforms White Paper.
In addition, my housing team is progressing initiatives to support local authorities to crack down on rogue landlords and assure standards, including developing a new accredited qualification for borough housing officers to fully utilise their enforcement powers.

Accessible and supported housing for young people and adults with disabilities

Siân Berry: Local authorities need to make sure they have enough suitable provision for accessible and supported housing for young people who become adults with disabilities. Will you lead on coordinating this at a London-wide level?

The Mayor: My London Plan provides a clear London-wide framework to increase the supply of accessible and supported housing for disabled Londoners, including for young people. London Plan Policy H12 supports the delivery, retention and refurbishment of supported and specialised housing. As set out in the policy, given the range of specialist needs and existing provision, boroughs are best placed to undertake local needs assessments of supply and demand in their area.
In addition, London Plan Policy D7 Accessible Housing requires at least 10 per cent of new dwellings to meet Building Regulation requirement M4(3) ‘wheelchair user dwellings’ and all other new dwellings to meet Building Regulation requirement M4(2) ‘accessible and adaptable dwellings’.
I have allocated over £100m of capital funding through my Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) programme to deliver homes for disabled Londoners, including younger people, to meet their specialist housing needs. Funding for this purpose is also available through my Affordable Homes Programme. My Homes for Londoners team continues to work with registered providers and local authorities to develop more homes for Londoners with specialist housing needs.

Discounted travel within dynamic fare pricing

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2021/1467. Will you consider including support for further discounted or free travel for particular groups, such as young care leavers, within your plans for dynamic fare pricing?

The Mayor: I have asked Transport for London to explore whether some form of dynamic pricing could be compatible with ensuring that the fares structure that applies on its services is simple, coherent and encourages use of public transport to avoid a car-led recovery.
I have also committed in my manifesto to ensure concessions are focussed on those who need it most, for instance maintaining young persons travel concessions and asking TfL to develop plans to introduce half price travel for care leavers.

Traffic flows at Blackwall Tunnel

Siân Berry: What level of traffic flow has Transport for London (TfL) recorded through the Blackwall Tunnel in annual average daily traffic in each direction, by year and class of vehicle, since the year 2000?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has two sets of data relating to traffic flow through the Blackwall Tunnel. Since 2012, automatic traffic counters have been used to determine directional traffic flows. The average traffic flows per day from these counters provide the most reliable indication of usage and are set out in the table below:
Annual Average Daily Traffic Flow Summary at Blackwall Tunnel
Annual Average Daily Traffic Flow by Direction
Year
ATC 197 SB
ATC 198 NB
2012
48,652
47,279
2013
50,222
48,074
2014
51,660
48,433
2015
52,272
49,176
2016
52,557
49,209
2017
52,796
49,367
2018
53,004
49,490
2019
53,257
49,707
2020
45,921
43,758
2021
46,764
44,389
Overall Average
51,043
48,127
The automatic counters are unable to detect vehicle classification so, in order to record this, TfL depends on manual traffic counts. These are undertaken during a single, 12-hour period on a day that is considered representative of overall traffic flows and date back to 2000. This data can be found in the attached spreadsheet. Counts from before 2012 are not direction-specific, and, due to the different methodology used, are not directly comparable to those listed above although there is a close correlation.

The Mayor: 2289 Traffic flows at Blackwall Tunnel attachment.xlsx

Systemic Change and Government (1)

Anne Clarke: Please provide a list of the times you have lobbied government for the systemic change necessary to ensure a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again.

The Mayor: Ever since the horrific Grenfell Tower tragedy and the devastating loss of 72 Londoners, I have taken steps to push for the systemic change that is sorely needed to prevent a tragedy like it happening again. As well as responding to government consultations, I have also written to and spoken to ministers on issues such as a developer levy, banning combustible materials and the building and fire safety bills. A record of my written interventions is detailed here:
Responses and correspondence - Building Regulations and Fire Safety | London City Hall
I stand ready to work collaboratively with Government to achieve the systemic change needed post Grenfell.

Ensuring the Delivery of Culturally Suitable Accommodation for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities

Hina Bokhari: What work are you undertaking with boroughs and others to ensure that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities have access to more culturally suitable accommodation and face less poor-quality accommodation in London?

The Mayor: I understand the urgent need for appropriate Gypsy and Traveller accommodation. In line with London Plan Policy H14 Gypsy and traveller accommodation, a London-wide assessment of the accommodation needs of all Gypsies and Travellers is being carried out to inform borough Local Plans and we are committed to working in partnership with Gypsies, Travellers and their representative organisations to plan and carry out this important research.
At a local level, boroughs will continue to be required, when reviewing their Local Plans, to protect existing sites, undertake an audit of existing local authority pitches and plan for the needs of Gypsies and Travellers in line with Policy H14.
Capital funding is available through my Affordable Homes Programme to remodel existing Gypsy and Traveller pitches and sites or build new ones. To date we have allocated £1.74m to remodel 37 pitches. My Homes for Londoners team continues to work with local authorities to support the provision of accommodation for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Negotiated stopping as an approach has been found to have positive outcomes for Gypsies and Travellers needing roadside accommodation and the Homes for Londoners team is also progressing work on a negotiated stopping protocol to be implemented on GLA land.

Visa Fees for UK Armed Forces Personnel from the Commonwealth

Hina Bokhari: Given the importance of London’s armed forces personnel and community, will you respond to the Government’s consultation on proposals to only exempt UK Armed Forces personnel from the Commonwealth from visa fees after they have completed 12 years of service in the UK Armed Forces?

The Mayor: I am committed to supporting veterans and on the 24th June 2019 I signed the renewed Armed Forces Covenant which commits the GLA to supporting the armed forces community and includes measures around maintaining free travel across London’s transport network, supporting sustainable accommodation and providing vital employment support for veterans
I have consistently called on the Government to scrap the profit element that makes access to residence and citizenship rights prohibitively expensive for many who are entitled to stay in the UK and provide a full fee waiver for indefinite leave to remain on citizenship applications for all children and young people. In June 2019 Icommitted to supporting the Stop the Service Charge campaign so that veterans can continue to live in the country they have served after they leave the armed forces.
I have asked his team to meet with representatives of the Armed Forces community to carefully consider how we can best support veterans and report on our commitments in the Armed Forces Covenant.

Apprenticeship Hub

Hina Bokhari: Will you consider creating an ‘Apprenticeship Hub’ which will pull together details of all the apprenticeship opportunities available across London to make it easier for those looking for apprenticeships?

The Mayor: Details of live apprenticeship opportunities are already available on the Government’s ‘find an apprenticeship’ website.
Rather than duplicate this resource, which has obvious financial implications, my officers have been working with the Education and Skills Funding Agency to ensure the ‘find an apprenticeship’ website is accessible and easier for Londoners to navigate. My officers are also exploring ways to effectively signpost Londoners interested in an apprenticeship to the government website.
My Sector Skills Academies programme will also seek to coordinate and signpost apprenticeship opportunities in priority sectors such as hospitality, green, health and social care, creative and digital.
Furthermore, the London Progression Collaboration – a joint pilot between the GLA, IPPR and JP Morgan Foundation - will continue to work with employers this year to promote apprenticeships and facilitate the transfer of unspent levy to create more apprenticeship opportunities in the capital.

Making Best Use of the Apprenticeship Levy

Hina Bokhari: What support are you giving to London businesses to ensure they can make best use of the Apprenticeship Levy?

The Mayor: My London Progression Collaboration (LPC) pilot, a joint initiative between the GLA, Institute for Public Policy Research and JP Morgan Foundation, has shown that it is possible to adapt the levy system to create more apprenticeship opportunities by facilitating the transfer of unspent levy from large levy-paying organisations to non-levy-payers.
To date, the LPC has raised over £6m in levy pledges from larger employers, which has been directed to create hundreds of apprenticeships within small businesses in priority sectors.
I am pleased that the National Apprenticeship Service has recognised the LPC’s success and is proposing an online function to facilitate the transfer of unspent apprenticeship levy.
I continue to lobby government for changes to the apprenticeship funding system to make it easier for employers to make best use of their apprenticeship levy, for example: introducing greater flexibilities in how the levy can be spent, such as allowing the levy to go towards salary costs; and providing pre-employability training for priority groups, such as young people and care leavers.

Supporting Small Businesses in the Supply Chains

Hina Bokhari: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on London’s businesses, large and small. Yet as we move towards recovery many smaller businesses are struggling as a result of larger businesses delaying payments through supply chains, which is having a crippling impact on many of these small businesses. What work will you undertake to support these small businesses and remind larger companies of their responsibility to smaller companies in supply chains given the importance of small business to London’s economy?

The Mayor: Organisations in the public and private sector must pay smaller businesses in their supply chain on time. Transport for London (who pay the GLA’s suppliers on our behalf) have signed up to the Prompt Payment Code. The Code, established by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner, commits TfL to pay suppliers promptly, and provides suppliers with clear guidance. I encourage other businesses to sign up to the Code, joining TfL and over 3,000 other buyers who have already made the commitment.
My London Business Hub also supports SMEs in accessing supply chain opportunities, and the GLA Group Responsible Procurement Team have produced a Small and Diverse business action plan. The plan reduces barriers faced by such businesses in tendering for and being awarded contracts within the GLA Group supply chain. Our performance against its goals will be monitored through our Responsible Procurement Policy and Implementation Plan.

Business Support for Women and Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners

Hina Bokhari: The Federation of Small Businesses recently published research showing that only 15% of SMEs are women-led and less than 5% are led by a majority Black and minority ethnic leadership team. As the Chair of the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) what work are you doing to look at the careers advice, business support and access to finance that is needed to help entrepreneurial women and ethnic minorities that want to start-up on their own micro and small businesses in London?

The Mayor: My London Business Hub supports SMEs across the capital, helping businesses to be more resilient. SMEs continue to make use of our one-to-one-adviser support, helping SME solve problems through peer-to-peer learning; and becoming investment ready. LEAP is also working to improve access to support from underrepresented communities. Actions taken include
In my last term LEAP held a series of roundtables with black women, Asian and Middle Eastern and disabled founders, to better understand challenges faced by these communities. Building on this outreach, LEAP hosted two Entrepreneur Summits, featuring businesses supported via our funding, partners we work with to instigate change and LEAP board members. From these events, we welcomed recommendations from SMEs founded by underrepresented Londoners, and continue to use these to shape our business support activity.
A breakdown of the number of BAME-owned businesses and women-owned businesses supported through projects delivered by the Business Hub from programme inception until 31 May 2021 indicates that most of our programmes reach a relatively high percentage of women andBAME individuals; by comparison with the research that you highlight.

Domestic Violence (1)

Sem Moema: Please provide the number of recorded domestic violence offences per London borough for each month of the last year.

The Mayor: Borough levels of Domestic Abuse offences are published as part of the MPS 'hate crime or special crime dashboard'; which can be found here - https://www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/hate-crime-dashboard/.

Hidden Mental Health Crisis

Onkar Sahota: The cladding scandal has created a hidden mental health crisis with many leaseholders trapped in their homes, there have been reports of depression and self harm. What support have or will you offer them?

The Mayor: I am deeply concerned about the impact that the cladding scandal is having on Londoner’s mental health and wellbeing, including the daily stress and worry faced by leaseholders.
This is a national crisis, and government must ensurethat residents in affected buildings are offered support to cope with the physical and mental health tollof living in potentially dangerous buildings.
The government-funded independent advice service LEASE exists as a resource to support leaseholders with fire safety issues. However, I am aware that many leaseholders feel the current service falls short of what is needed. I have already lobbied government on this issue.
In December 2019, the Homes for Londoners Board called on government to urgently review the remit and role of LEASE with a view to it better supporting the needs of those affected. Despite not receiving a response, I am committed to working with government on this.

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Health Inequalities

Onkar Sahota: How are you working to address the health inequalities of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in London?

The Mayor: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are known to face some of the most severe health inequalities and poor life outcomes amongst the UK population, even when compared with other socially deprived or excluded groups, and with other ethnic minorities.They are also less likely to access health services, including immunisation services.
The London Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community are an important Right to Thrive partner and the Right to Thrive grants programme has supported outreach and engagement with a group of young people in Hounslow. Across 2020/21, the project has provided home-school liaison support to 20 young people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to prevent school exclusion that can lead to isolation and poor mental health.
Prior to the pandemic, Thrive LDN worked with The Traveller Movement to screen “Never Going to Beat You” and engaged with members of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities around domestic violence.
My London Plan includes a commitment to lead a city-wide assessment of the accommodation needs of all Gypsies and Travellers, and my affordable homes programme provides support for better provision of suitable accommodation.
My community engagement team also holds regular monthly meetings with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sector organisations, which have included discussions about vaccine hesitancy through our partnership events programme with PHE and NHS London.

Gypsy, Traveller and Roma hate crime data

Onkar Sahota: Does the Met record data on hate crimes towards Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities and if not, why?

The Mayor: The Met does record Gypsy, Roma and Traveller hate crimes. This is done using the ‘GT’ flag.

Ground rents on GLA land (1)

Sem Moema: You are committed to working to end ground rents on GLA land. Can you provide details on how many leases there are on GLA land; how many of those leases pay ground rent; and what the value of that ground rent income was in 2020/21?

The Mayor: There are approximately 120 leases where the GLA is the landlord. Only 12 of these leases have ground rents, these relate to commercial or leisure premises and the total value is £106 per annum. The commitment to end ground rents refers to residential properties and the GLA does not charge ground rents on residential premises.

Ground rents on GLA land (2)

Sem Moema: Given your commitment to end ground rents on GLA land. are you able to unilaterally waive all future ground rent payments from leaseholders on GLA land? Or would you need agreement with each individual leaseholder to do this?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor's Question 2021/2084.

Vaccine hesitancy

Sem Moema: With 72% of Black people, and 42% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups, saying they were unlikely or very unlikely to take up the Covid vaccine, how can you help to support efforts to increase take up amongst those groups in London?

The Mayor: The figures in the question do not reflect the most recent ONS data from 28.04.21 – 23.05.21, which reports rates of vaccine hesitancy of 21% in Black or Black British adults and 7% in Asian or Asian British adults in Great Britain. Vaccine hesitancy includes adults who have been offered a vaccine but declined, report being very or fairly unlikely to have a vaccine, or reported they are neither likely nor unlikely, don’t know, or preferred not to say.
Data published by OpenSafely up to 9.06.21, estimates the percentage of people aged over 50 in England, who have received the first dose of the vaccination, is 68.1% for Black people and 84.9% for South Asian people.
Since the vaccine rollout has begun, my teams have been working closely with partners to deliver a London-wide campaign. For information about my team’s work to support COVID-19 vaccine uptake in communities where we have seen low levels of uptake please see Mayor’s Question 2021/1913.

Delays to Construction

Sem Moema: Inside Housing are reporting that Brexit, coronavirus and the Suez Canal blockage have led to construction material shortages and price rises. What effect is this having on homes built directly by the GLA or via the Affordable Homes Programme?

The Mayor: ONS data shows that new orders for construction work to main contractors on housing projects in London have fallen to £3.6 billion across the past year, compared with the previous quarter’s rolling total of £4.3 billion. This is thought to potentially be due to the rapidly increasing cost of building supplies, as reported in Inside Housing and in other publications. Engagement has suggested that these prices are a result of supply chain delays and globally high demand for certain products and has been noted by many of my delivery partners.
It is too early to say what impact this might have on delivery of homes via my Affordable Homes Programme, or commissioned on GLA land, but my team are considering how to best engage with my delivery partners to ensure that these trends do not unnecessarily impact on the construction of much-needed new homes in London.

Air Quality at Clapham Junction

Leonie Cooper: Has Clapham Junction exceeded legal air quality limits yet in 2021? If yes, on how many days?

The Mayor: There have been no exceedances of the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide at Clapham Junction in 2021.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring. The monitoring site at Clapham Junction is owned and operated by Wandsworth, the data is publicly available here: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicstats.asp?region=0&site=WAC&Maptype=Google&mapview=all&statyear=2021&la_id=&zoom=13&lat=51.4715784211897&lon=-0.15403787096853083&laEdge=.

Air Quality at schools in Wandsworth

Leonie Cooper: How many schools, primary or secondary, in Wandsworth are still situated in areas of poor air quality, either high levels of NOx or Particulate Matter?

The Mayor: As a result of the ambitious policies I have implemented since 2016, there are currently no primary or secondary schools in Wandsworth located in areas that exceed legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) based on our modelling.
However, I do not think the current legal limit for PM2.5 goes far enough for the protection of human health, which is why I have set out the aspiration for all of London to have concentrations of PM2.5 within the World Health Organization’s guideline limit of 10 µg/m3 by 2030. I have repeatedly called on Government to match London’s ambition and adopt the same limit in the Environment Bill.
In 2016, the average PM2.5 concentration in London was 13.3 µg/m3 and there were no areas in London within the WHO guideline limit. However, with the help of my hard-hitting measures , in 2019, areas in outer London were within the limit for the first time.

Air Quality at Putney High Street

Leonie Cooper: Has Putney High Street exceeded legal air quality limits yet in 2021? If yes, on how many days?

The Mayor: There have been no exceedances of the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide at Putney High Street in 2021.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring. The monitoring sites at Putney High Street are owned and operated by Wandsworth, the data is publicly available here: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicstats.asp?region=0&site=WA7&la_id=&network=All&postcode=&MapType=Google&VenueCode= and https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicstats.asp?region=0&site=WA8&la_id=&network=All&postcode=&MapType=Google&VenueCode=.

Air Quality at Tooting Broadway

Leonie Cooper: Has Tooting Broadway exceeded legal air quality limits yet in 2021? If yes, on how many days?

The Mayor: There have been no exceedances of the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide at Tooting Broadway in 2021.
London has around 120 “reference” air quality monitoring stations which can be used to assess compliance with legal limits. These are owned, operated and funded by the London boroughs, Transport for London and Heathrow and City airports. Data from these sites is publicly available in real time from the organisations they contract to undertake the monitoring. The monitoring site at Tooting High Street is owned and operated by Wandsworth, the data is publicly available here: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/publicstats.asp?region=0&site=WAB&la_id=&network=All&postcode=&MapType=Google&VenueCode=.

PM2.5 and Woodburning (2)

Leonie Cooper: What discussions have you had with ministers or DEFRA regarding the need for stronger legislation to tackle PM2.5 from woodburning in London?

The Mayor: Defra have been made aware of the letter my Deputy Mayor sent jointly with London Councils to all solid fuel suppliers, and we gave them an opportunity to comment on the training modules we developed for borough officers. They have been supportive of our work to raise awareness of the new national solid fuel regulations.
Officers have had a number of discussions with Defra on the need for stronger powers for wood burning and other non-road pollution sources. I have also written to the Secretary of State on these issues and the need to include health-based PM2.5 targets into the Environment Bill. Disappointingly, aside from these new regulations banning the sale of the most polluting fuels, no additional powers or regulations have been put in place. We are therefore continuing to deliver our own initiatives to raise awareness and provide support to boroughs (detailed in our response to question 2611).

PM2.5 and Woodburning (3)

Leonie Cooper: Are current government plans for woodburning stoves strong enough to provide more protections from emissions?

The Mayor: The new regulations on the sale of solid fuels (which came into force 1st June 2021) are an important step, but insufficient by themselves to tackle the pollution caused by urban fuel burning.
Burning in an open fire is around 2,000 times more polluting than a boiler, and even using a Defra-approved stove is still approximately 1,000 times more polluting. More needs to be done on a national level to raise awareness of this and provide the necessary regulatory framework to minimise emissions and exposure. I will continue to make the case for further action to the Government.

Carbon Capture and London

Leonie Cooper: How much of a role will carbon capture technology play in London achieving net zero by 2030?

The Mayor: It is unlikely that carbon capture and storage will play a significant role in London’s net zero carbon by 2030 target, as the UK will only be developing its first initial sites in the 2020s at industrial clusters outside of London. I am focussing my efforts on the immediate actions that I can take to reduce emissions from the built environment and transport by 2030.

Coronavirus Recovery Visa

Marina Ahmad: What support from the Government have you and London’s hospitality industry had for your call for a coronavirus recovery visa?

The Mayor: The Government rejected this proposal, despite support from the hospitality and other sectors. That may prove short-sighted, as it remains to be seen whether foreign workers who returned to their country of origin during the pandemic will return, whilst hospitality, social care and construction businesses say they are struggling to recruit staff for key roles.
I will therefore continue to urge Ministers to review changes to visa rules that came into force for EU nationals on 1 January 2021.
I am also lobbying for London to have devolved powers in relation to visas to allow businesses and public services to fill vacancies where they have acute shortages. The Government must play its role to ensure London is empowered to facilitate a strong recovery.

Climate impact of July bus service review

Siân Berry: The Transport for London (TfL) funding deal requires you to review bus services by 19 July 2021. Cutting bus services not only removes vital public transport from Londoners but also risks the UK failing to meet international climate agreements. Will you include details of the potential climate impact of cuts to bus services, including the impact of people moving from bus to car where frequencies reduce or services are withdrawn, in any review?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) will be undertaking a review of bus services by 19 July and again in September as required by the third extraordinary funding and financing agreement with central Government which covers the period to 11 December 2021.
TfL’s bus review will include a narrative on the potential climate impact of cuts in bus services. Maintaining frequent and reliable bus services is essential to limit the adverse climate impact of a car-based recovery.

Tasers

Susan Hall: How many police officers are now taser trained?

The Mayor: As of June 2021, the MPS has 8,166 Taser trained officers.

GLA Freehold and the Building Safety Scandal (2)

Anne Clarke: How does the GLA work with developers and Building Managers to ensure that remediation plans for GLA Freehold sites happens quickly, efficiently and transparently?

The Mayor: On the sites in question GLA Land and Property (GLAP) has leased its land to long-leaseholders. The legal responsibility for health and safety and any remedial works therefore sits wholly with the long-leaseholder. GLAP as the freeholder has limited powers to intervene.
Nevertheless, my team has written to all long-leaseholders requesting information on external wall systems and, where necessary, progress with remediation work. As far as possible, my team is in regular contact with long-leaseholders and managers of buildings on GLAP land about safety. Where unsafe external walls have been identified my team has encouraged the long-leaseholder to progress with these works at pace and ensure that both residents and the GLA are kept informed of progress.

Traffic reduction to meet climate agreements

Siân Berry: Transport for West Midlands has published a research review (https://www.tfwm.org.uk/media/64219/tfwm-quarterly-research-paper-issue-8-v2.pdf Issue 8, Sep-Nov 2020) which estimated a need for a 33-58 per cent reduction in car km in that area by 2030-2035 to meet the Paris Climate Change agreement. This has now been confirmed by an analysis by Atkins which found a need for a 58 per cent reduction in car mileage by 2031. For London, what similar estimates do you have for the need for traffic reduction by 2030 to meet climate targets, and how has that estimate changed as climate ambitions have increased?

The Mayor: My ambition for London to be carbon-neutral by 2030 requires accelerating and intensifying existing work to reduce transport sector carbon emissions.
Transport for London (TfL) is currently undertaking work to update the transport projections that were developed as part of my 2018 Transport Strategy, as well as the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. Updating our transport projections to account for, for example, the likely impact of the Government’s planned phase out of petrol and diesel cars sales in 2030, will help us understand what more needs to be done to reduce emissions and help meet my 2030 ambition.
It is also why I continue to ask Government to support my aspiration to electrify the bus fleet by 2030 rather than 2037 and continue to call on Government to commit resources to a national scrappage scheme.

GLA Freehold and the Building Safety Scandal (1)

Anne Clarke: Where the GLA is freeholder of a property where building safety defects are identified as being in need of remediation, what support does the GLA offer to leaseholders?

The Mayor: Please see my response to MQ 2021/2504.

One year of restrictions on travel with a freedom pass

Siân Berry: Next month it will be one year since travel on the TfL network using a Freedom Pass or 60+ Oyster card before 9am on weekdays was suspended. Over 1,000 older Londoners have contacted Age UK London to share the devastating impact this is having on them. Those most affected are low income older Londoners with no choice about when they travel and include carers, patients, volunteers and keyworkers. Now that restrictions are easing and services increasing, when will the suspension, introduced as a ‘temporary’ measure, be lifted?

The Mayor: The temporary changes to the Older Person's Freedom Pass and 60+ Oyster card pass during morning peak travel were introduced in June 2020 to help reduce the risk of crowding, and aid social distancing. Whilst these measures were not taken lightly, they remain in place and will be reviewed alongside any changes to the Government’s wider social distancing rules on all public transport networks.
It is worth noting that holders of these cards are eligible for unlimited free travel on Transport for London’s services from 9 a.m. on Mondays-Fridays and any time at weekends and bank holidays.
Please also see my answer to Mayor’s Question: 2020/2248.

More support for tackling crime in Camden Town

Anne Clarke: Camden Town used to benefit from the MOPAC offer to match fund policing when that scheme was around, helping to reduce crime levels in the area and support the excellent work of the Market. However since the removal of the scheme, there have been concerns from traders about the ability to deal with criminal activity, despite visible patrols by the police. How can we ensure that as London recovers from the pandemic, Camden Town can remain safe for all visitors, and are you considering bringing back the MOPAC match funding scheme?

The Mayor: Since 2019, the ‘Partnership Plus’ scheme has provided an opportunity for local authorities to fund additional local officers at a reduced cost. Under this scheme the London borough of Camden has an agreement in place until 31 March 2022 for the provision of one officer for Street Population activity. If the borough wishes to explore further partnership agreements these should be raised directly with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
The Partnership Plus scheme supports the flexibility needed by the Commissioner to manage her resources and as such there are no plans to bring back the ‘Met Patrol Plus’ scheme.

Careers Advice Targets

Shaun Bailey: What targets have you set for improving careers advice for Londoners throughout this mayoral term?

The Mayor: Although I have been calling for devolution in this area, careers advice for adult Londoners remains the responsibility of the National Careers Service and targets for that provision are set by the Education and Skills Funding Agency as the contracting authority.
However, for young Londoners, my London Enterprise Adviser Network(LEAN) matches experienced businessvolunteers with school and college careers leaders to work in partnership to improve careers provision.
The LEAN is currently working with over 550 secondary schools and colleges in London. From September 2021, we will be extending the offer by establishing four new sub-regional Careers Hubs and making support available to every school, college and special needs school in London. These Hubs will be centres of excellence in careers education where employers and educators will work together to improve the quality and relevance of careers education in our schools and colleges.

Semiconductors 1

Susan Hall: What impact has the worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips had on MPS technology procurement and modernisation?

The Mayor: There has so far been no significant impact from supply chain issues relating to semiconductors upon technology procurement and modernisation in the MPS.
The MPS digital and commercial teams are in regular contact with suppliers who are not seeing significant issues so far.

Operation Chronical

Susan Hall: Since the start of the Met's Operation Chronical how many:
• Passports or ID documents of foreign national offenders were recorded.
•Documentsweresupplied to Immigration Enforcement that were used to remove high risk foreign nationals.

The Mayor: Since the beginning of Operation Chronical, the details of 68 individuals have been recorded, which includes the details of 56 passports and 16 ID cards.
No documents have been supplied to Immigration Enforcement. Details of any documents seized are added to police systems at the point of arrest and are accessible by Immigration Enforcement through the Police National Database (PND).

Audible alarms

Susan Hall: How many audible alarms have been issued to victims of domestic abuseover the last three years?

The Mayor: The MPS have been trialling panic alarms for high-risk domestic abuse situations since December 2019; the technology was not in existence prior to this time.
A full randomised control trial to ascertain the efficacy of this alarm has been taking place since February 2020. As part of the trial, a first cohort of 300 high-risk victims received an alarm and initial results are positive with better evidential capture leading to more arrests and charges.
500 audio-enabled units have been initially commissioned for a wider MPS launch in September 2021. It is intended to circulate these through at least 1,200 victims in the following 12-month period.